Hurricanes end campaign with inconsequential win
Fifties from Matthew Wade (63 off 41) and Ben McDermott (50 off 35) along with an all-round show from Nathan Ellis (16 off 5 and 2-29) helped Hobart Hurricanes to eke out a narrow seven-run win over Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Monday (January 15). The Hurricanes openers were instrumental in their team getting an above-par total and the target of 188 proved to be far too many for the Stars despite the efforts of Beau Webster (55* off 43), Marcus Stoinis (48 off 32) and Glenn Maxwell (32 off 18). Put into bat, the Hurricanes got going through a fluent 86-run stand off 60 deliveries between Wade and McDermott. While the surface was better than the typical MCG deck, strokemaking still wasn’t as easy as it would be at a batting-friendly venue. Wade and McDermott started with a bang in the powerplay and then consolidated on the gains thereafter before being separated off the last ball before drinks. It was just the opening Stars needed as their spinners Daniel Lawrence (4-35) and Imad Wasim (2-35) inflicted a collapse. Macalister Wright and Tim David played short cameos but Hurricanes missed partnerships to carry the good work of their openers forward. Ellis’ heroics in the 20th over ensured that the visitors finished with a strong total. The chase didn’t begin well for the Stars who lost both their openers for not much on the board. It meant that their starry middle order had to do the bulk of the work. Webster stitched a 44-run stand off 31 balls with Maxwell to reignite the innings while a 80-run stand off 54 balls with Stoinis kept the chase going. However, it always seemed like the Hurricanes were marginally in front. Ellis followed up his cameo with a wily bowling display to choke the run flow. He picked timely breakthroughs and also bowled the tough overs to keep his side in front. With 32 needed off 12 balls, Ellis produced a brilliant penultimate over, conceding just eight runs to all but seal the result. Peter Hatzoglou did concede 16 off the final over but that included a six in the final delivery when the game was already done. Stars did well to stay in the chase but a target in excess of 185 was always going to be dicey at the MCG. Brief scores: Hobart Hurricanes 187/8 in 20 overs (Matthew Wade 63, Ben McDermott 50; Daniel Lawrence 4-35) beat Melbourne Stars 180/4 in 20 overs (Beau Webster 55*, Marcus Stoinis 48; Nathan Ellis 2-29) by seven runs