BBL 07, Match 24, Review: Hurricanes triumph in yet another thriller courtesy D'Arcy Short's maiden century

Hobart Hurricanes prevailed in yet another thriller against Brisbane Heat in their own den and won the match by just 3 runs in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL). The match went down the wire until the last over with the home side needing 13 runs. Daniel Christian successfully defended those many runs despite bowling an extra delivery. Four runs were required off the last ball which was smashed to long on by Brendan Doggett only to be caught by Jofra Archer as the visitors celebrated their fourth consecutive victory.

Earlier, Hurricanes won the toss and opted to bat first with Alex Doolan losing his wicket early. His partner though D’Arcy Short continued his purple patch and batted beautifully. This time he managed to achieve his maiden century and also went on to register the highest ever individual score in the history of the tournament. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 122 off just 69 deliveries smashing 8 fours and as many sixes. It was only his effort that Hurricanes managed to post 179 runs in their stipulated 20 overs.

Ben Cutting was the pick of the bowlers who picked a couple of wickets conceding only 27 runs. Mark Steketee was the other wicket-taker but cost 51 runs for his team even conceding three sixes to Short in a single over.

The exhilarating chase

Sam Heazlett and the skipper Brendon McCullum started the chase perfectly for Heat by scoring 16 runs off the first over. They added 64 for the first wicket in the powerplay before Cameron Boyce snaffled the latter for 33. The wickets kept on falling since then as they were reduced to 118/5 in the 16th over. The game was heavily in favour of the visitors with Alex Ross and Jimmy Peirson in the middle. To make matters worse the former was given out obstructing the field controversially as the Heat camp didn’t look happy at all after the decision.

But Peirson had other ideas who kept on middling his swings even as Steketee slammed a couple of sixes to bring the equation down to 13 runs off the final over. Christian though kept his cool and made sure that Peirson stayed off the strike for the last three deliveries. Though his heart was in his mouth after the last ball went in the air but it was pouched safely by Archer as the Gabba was left stunned after witnessing the close defeat of their side.

Short was deservedly awarded Man of the Match for his all-round performance as he also bowled miserly conceding only 20 runs and picking up a crucial wicket of Heazlett who was threatening to take the game away from them.

Brief Scores

Hobart Hurricanes 179/4 after 20 overs (D Short 122*; B Cutting 2/27)

Brisbane Heat 176/8 after 20 overs (S Heazlett 45;C Boyce 2/23, D Christian 1/8, D Short 1/20)

Result: Hobart Hurricanes won by 3 runs

Man of the Match: D’Arcy Short