This win takes Hobart Hurricanes to the apex of the points table. They will next face Brisbane Heat, who are yet to register a W this season, on Saturday. The Sixers will be in action on the same day as they will lock horns with Sydney Thunder.
And like always, we will be there to call the action. We hope you enjoyed the coverage. This is the quartet of Darpan Tikiya, Anirudh Modi, Arjun Bhalla and Bishal Mandal signing off. See you soon.
Hayley Silver-Holmes (Player of the Match): "A hard length was important on this surface; that is what we spoke about as a bowling group, and we were happy with 160 on the board. Things are always happening in T20 cricket. It was all a blur in that moment, but super pumped to get the win today.
I've had a bad few years with injuries, but the big thing for me was to get fit as soon as I can, so I can do what I want to easily. Having a full pre-season always helps. I've been trying a few variations."
Player of the Match | Hayley Silver-Holmes
4:34 PM IST, 10:04 PM local time: Hurricanes gun down the target with 19 balls to spare and win this match by 6 wickets. Remember, they were a team that had a reputation of struggling to chase targets. Now, they have registered two impressive run chases back to back.
What do they say? It is not about how you start, but about how you finish. That is exactly what Lizelle Lee – the hero of the second innings — put on display. She had a rough outing behind the stumps, where she was guilty of shelling down a handful of chances. However, she turned her evening around with an imposing knock. Her ball-striking was crisp and more often than not, she picked the length quick enough to be able to get in the perfect position to play her shots. She got out in the 12th over, but by that time, her 33-ball-55 had put the Hurricanes in pole position.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge played her part too. Yes, she got a couple of lifelines, however her lofted drives over the off side were as delightful as they get. She ended up with a better strike rate than her opening partner.
Post that, the Sixers did strike back. Teenager Caoimhe Bray dismissed two international all-rounders — Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Heather Graham — to spark a flame of hope. However, it wasn't enough. Maitlan Brown delivered 15 dots in her 3.5 over spell, but could not pick a wicket.
Gardner and co. had only themselves to blame. They dropped a bazillion catches and committed plenty of fumbles in ground fielding too. Also, earlier in the day, being put into bat, they saw Perry take them off to a good start. Yes, they lost Dunkley early and Healy — who batted at 3 in this match — took a while to get going. But at one stage, they appeared on track to get into the vicinity of 180.
However, then a golden over from Haley Silver-Holmes turned it around. The right-arm seamer dismissed Healy, Gardner and Kerr within 5 balls to tip the scale in the favour of the Hurricanes and there was no turning back.
OVER 17
Hobart Hurricanes Women
154/4
Nicola Carey
26(18)
Elyse Villani
3(5)
Maitlan Brown
0-21(3.5)
16.5 M Brown to N Carey
4 SLICED AWAY!!! Goes through the offside for a boundary. It's a match-winning boundary coming from Carey's blade. Full and wide from Brown, the batter waits for the ball and then cuts it past backward point. The ball races away to the ropes. The Hobart Hurricanes have thrashed the Sixers here in North Sydney!!! Hobart have chased down the target by six wickets with 19 deliveries to spare. They have won two in two games!!!
16.4 M Brown to N Carey
0 Slower bouncer outside the off-stump. Carey stands tall to pull it away, but misues it towards mid-wicket. No runs.
16.3 M Brown to N Carey
0 Around the wicket. Length on off. Carey rocks back, gets behind the line and carves to point.