BIG BASH LEAGUE SQUADS
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HOBART HURRICANES SQUAD: George Bailey (c), Tim Paine (vc), Travis Birt, Cameron Boyce, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Evan Gulbis, Alex Hales, Ben Hilfenhaus, Joe Mennie, Darren Sammy, Timm van der Gugten, Jon Wells.
MELBOURNE STARS SQUAD: Cameron White (c), Michael Beer, Jackson Bird, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, John Hastings, David Hussey, Alexander Keath, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen, Tom Triffitt, Daniel Worrall, Luke Wright.
HOBART Hurricanes coach Damien Wright says last year's shock semi-final win over the Melbourne Stars will be a source of inspiration for his side when the two teams come face-to-face tonight at the MCG.
Speaking after the Canes' practice match in Launceston on Thursday, Wright reflected on the seven-wicket win over the undefeated Stars in February, which was built upon powerful batting efforts of Tim Paine, skipper George Bailey and Ben Dunk.
It allowed the Canes to qualify for the Big Bash League final, which they lost to the Perth Scorchers, and the Champions League, where they reached the semi-finals. The victory had come after the Stars had knocked off the Canes by five wickets earlier in the competition, also at the MCG.
"We will talk about that and we'll look at how we did that [in the semi]," Wright said.
"Their team has changed a little, but not too much, so we will go into the game really confident after what we were able to do last time we played them.
"There will be some plans and processes that we had in place last year that we will use again."
Wright and his coaching staff have picked a strong squad for tonight, which will feature the Hurricanes debuts of English power-hitter Alex Hales and West Indian all-rounder Darren Sammy.
Speedster Jake Reed, who impressed at Aurora Stadium with 3-13, has missed out, with Joe Mennie and Timm van der Gugten joining Sammy, Ben Hilfenhaus and Evan Gulbis as pace options.
The Hurricanes also announced yesterday that former Australian wicketkeeper Paine and current T20 wicketkeeper Dunk will share that responsibility throughout the tournament.
Which one of the two will take the gloves will be decided on a game-by-game basis.
The Stars are coming off an eight-wicket loss to the Adelaide Strikers on Thursday night.
The tournament favourites feature England duo Kevin Pietersen and Luke Wright, T20 dynamo Glenn Maxwell and Tasmanians James Faulkner, Jackson Bird and Tom Triffitt.