Hobart Hurricanes 6 for 180 (McDermott 67, Wade 39, Russell 3-48) beat Melbourne Stars 9 for 156 (Clarke 52, Rogers 3-29, Meredith 3-32) by 24 runs
The Hobart Hurricanes ignited their stuttering BBL season with a brilliant effort, stopping Melbourne Stars' batsmen in a contest marred by a controversial intentional short run by Tim David. Trying to score two runs in the last over of the innings, David hit Storm with a rare five-run penalty after deliberately slamming his bat down the crease, about two meters from the crease. But it looked like the hosts restricted the mighty star batsmen to storm in a much-needed win.
Batting battling the storm's reshuffle
A desperate storm changed his batting again, with Ben McDermott promoted to open in place of the struggling D'Arcy Short. And it did the trick, with the grown-up McDermott, who usually bats at No. 4, blowing up the storm with fellow opener Matthew Wade. He hit the first ball of Glenn Maxwell's innings on the way to the boundary in the opening over of 14 runs.
Such was the spirit of his new opening partner that Wade was unnaturally ahead, though he crossed 2000 BBL runs in the process. Their 93-run stand ended in the tenth over when Wade took a fine catch by Hilton Cartwright as the Hurricanes resisted the temptation to lift David up, coming to the crease with Short.
However, his struggles with form contributed to McDermott's loss of pace and the eventual death toll for 67. Short now feels like a mile from Dynamo who was once the BBL's best batsman as he crawled to 6 off his first ten balls. He rediscovered his old touch a few times when he blew away Andre Russell for 14 in a power surge, but soon fell to 26.
The storm then awkwardly brought in Peter Handscomb instead of David, who had the chance of death and displayed his brute force with a big six off Russell. David ignited 12 balls in 22 balls, and he was also involved in a strange brawl; However, Storm may need to start using it much sooner.
zampa-less stars fight well
It was tough work for the stars without the talisman Adam Zampa, who has been rested in recent months after his heavy workload, particularly on the belt of a pitch, and with storm openers. But he did an early start to make a comeback into the competition through Qais Ahmed, who held his own against the tide, while young pacer Brody Couch continued to impress with his zip and accuracy.
Experienced pairing Russell and Nathan Coulter-Nile disappointed the Hurricanes, who had a poor start to the innings. It was a spectacular comeback from the Stars, with skipper Maxwell doing a great job of rotating his bowlers and implementing a well-planned strategy.
High-voltage batting of stars fails to shine
The Stars grabbed the opportunity but lost crucial wickets of Marcus Stoinis and Maxwell in the first eight overs to ruin their chances. The pressure was on English import Joe Clarke, who scored two ducks in his only innings this season, but rediscovered his best with a 37-ball fifty.
Clarke made his move in the tenth over with successive sixes off Sandeep Lamichhane, who conceded 18 runs in a pace-changing over. The wicketkeeper-batsman found a willing ally in Joe Burns, who started the BBL season on time with a fine knock.
But as the Stars watched the stuff, Clarke and Burns moved in rapid succession as the visitors fell. There was much left to do for Russell, playing in his final BBL game this season, and when he fell in the 18th over, the result was effectively sealed. The Stars suffered their third loss of the season, and are finding it hard to read as they try for their first BBL title.
Hurricane revives its campaign
With five fewer runs to play courtesy of a short-run penalty, the Hurricanes were under pressure, but they put up an inspired performance this season as they struggled with the ball. Perhaps David's controversy inspired him because the storms were quick in the field and animated especially when he took wickets.
During the action, David took a brilliant forward-diving catch to remove the dangerous Stoinis and set the tone for the Hurricanes. Harry Brooke added another brilliant catch to dismiss Maxwell as the Hurricanes then kept his cool amid Clarke's attack.
Riley Meredith saw a very different team hitting his stripes, as the speedster bowled around 150kph and took three wickets in his second game this season. With Tom Rogers also bowling well at death, the Hurricanes issued a reminder why he was rated highly in the season.