The Hobart Hurricanes returned to form with a bang in their marquee Christmas Eve game, defeating the Melbourne Stars by 24 runs.
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A 93-run opening stand from new opening pair Ben McDermott (67 off 43) and Matthew Wade (39 off 27) set the tone for the victory and the Hurricanes' score of 6-180.
The hard-hitting opening partnership was broken in the 10th over as Wade found Hilton Cartwright at deep point off a short, wide Nathan Coulter-Nile delivery.
That was after the star keeper past 2000 career BBL runs and the duo smacked sixes all around the ground, as the struggling D'Arcy Short then came to the crease at three.
McDermott fell in the 14th over, once again caught by Cartwright, as the Hurricanes took their power surge and Short looked to find his groove.
He whacked consecutive fours down the ground and a six over mid-wicket off Andre Russell after McDermott fell.
Nineteen balls of no boundaries later and Short met the same fate, joining his teammates in the dressing rooms for 26 off 24 deliveries.
The boundary-less streak broke after 27 deliveries, almost a quarter of the innings, with Coulter-Nile economic during his four-over spell, taking 2-22.
Russell took the bulk of the wickets, but went for a few runs, finishing with 3-48 as Tim David (22* off 12) took to him before eventually being penalised five runs for a deliberate short run.
Those runs went straight to the Stars' total and an early dropped catch made it look like things could be tough but Tom Rogers (3-29) removed danger-man Marcus Stoinis for 18.
He almost took Glenn Maxwell with him next ball but the chance was spilled by Sandeep Lamichhane.
However, he didn't hurt the 'Canes too much as a Harry Brook hanger saw him on his way for 12.
Despite the wickets, Joe Clarke didn't slow down, taking 19 off a Lamichhane over but it wasn't enough to take the Bash Boost point off the home side.
Clarke worked his way to his maiden BBL 50 off 37 balls as he and Joe Burns began to look threatening, putting on 55 before the former was removed for 52 off 40.
Burns (22 off 17) followed not long after, skittled by Nathan Ellis, who looked to continue onto Russell, having the Star caught before it was deemed to conclusively hit the ground by the third umpire.
The Stars took 20 off the two-over power surge to need 45 off the last three overs, which was made even harder by Ellis definitively removing Russell (12 off 13).
Cartwright (26 off 17) looked up to the challenge but Riley Meredith (3-32) removed two of his teammates in consecutive balls, with the Star dealing with the hat-trick ball through cover.
Rogers, who finished with 3-29, removed the dangerous hitter with the first ball of the last over before taking a catch and clashing with Wade in a high catch.
He held on, as did the Hurricanes, who next play the Adelaide Strikers in Hobart on Monday.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
