D'Arcy Short, Tim Paine set up Hobart Hurricanes' victory

D'Arcy Short, Tim Paine set up Hobart Hurricanes' victory

D'Arcy Short gave a fine account of himself on his Big Bash League debut, scoring eight fours and three sixes in his 29-ball essay of 61, while his captain Tim Paine scored 63 off 45 balls, to lay the foundation for Hobart Hurricanes' comprehensive victory by 60 runs over the Sydney Sixers at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday (December 23). Defending 200, Shaun Tait led the way, ensuring the efforts of the batsmen didn't go in vain, as the Sixers were bundled out for 140.

Asked to bat by Moises Henriques, Hurricanes enjoyed a breezy start as Short and Paine raced away in the powerplay overs and maintained a scoring rate in excess of six an over. Henriques used as many as five bowlers - Johan Botha, Ben Dwarshuis, Joe Mennie, Sean Abbott, Steve O'Keefe - in the first eight overs, but to no avail. The next change - Doug Bollinger - brought respite as he struck on the first ball of the ninth over. Short reached out to a short ball and looked to clear the cover fence, but mistimed and was sent back as Jason Roy ran forward and completed a sharp catch.

A second-wicket stand of 39 runs with Kumar Sangakkara kept Paine going. He scored an important half-century and kept his team's scorecard moving through the tricky and all-important middle phase. At the other end, Sangakkara fell for a 12-ball 16, and George Bailey followed suit for a 10-ball 14. Roy was once again involved in the field as he took another good catch in the deep, this time off Abbott to end Paine's innings on 63. At the fall of the skipper's wicket, Hurricanes had 167 on the board off 17 overs. Daniel Christian (20 off 12) and Hamish Kingston (12* off 6) did enough to take Hurricanes to the 200-run mark by the end of the innings.

Despite pulling things back well towards the end of the first innings, Sydney Sixers had quite a task on their hands if they were to take all the points from the fixture. Early dismissals of Jordan Silk and Henriques made it tougher for them in a steep chase. Before the powerplay overs could end, even senior batsman Brad Haddin was back in the hut.

With the pressure mounting, Roy eventually gave in and was stumped off a Cameron Boyce delivery while trying to play over the top. Sam Billings and Botha forged a 39-run stand before the latter was dismissed by debutant Short. Despite Billings fighting on, the lack of partnerships meant Sixers were constantly slipping in chase. Tait nearly brought the curtains down on Sixers' chase when Billings fell in the 15th over, leaving his side needing 68 off the last 30 balls. The tail managed to get only 28 of those as they were bundled out in the 17th over.

Brief Scores: Hobart Hurricanes 200 in 20 overs (Tim Paine 63, D'Arcy Short 61; Sean Abott 2-41) beat Sydney Sixers 140 in 16.2 overs (Sam Billings 42, Jason Roy 40; Shaun Tait 3-32, Clive Rose 2-14) by 60 runs.