Melbourne Stars beat Hobart Hurricanes via Duckworth-Lewis rule at UTAS Stadium
The Hobart Hurricanes got a glimpse of life without D’Arcy Short last night, with the ODI-bound star opener having no impact on the scoreboard as the Melbourne Stars claimed victory at a rain-hit UTAS Stadium.
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HOBART has caught a glimpse of life without its Big Bash superstar after crashing to the Melbourne Stars for the second time in nine days last night.
On a rain-affected evening the Hurricanes could only post 5-69 in a contest reduced to 11 overs, with the visitors overcoming the loss of two early wickets of the chase to get the result under the DLS system when they were 3-55 in the eighth over.
Two time reigning BBL player of the tournament D’Arcy Short — who just two hours before the start of play was called up to the Australian ODI side for its three match tour of India next month — perished for a third ball duck in a horror start for the hosts in Launceston.
Likely to miss at least six matches as a replacement for the injured Sean Abbott, Short’s absence will leave a large hole at the top of the order despite the return of skipper Matthew Wade from Test duties.
The reliance on the dynamic left hander has been evident in the early stages of BBL|09, with Short posting two half centuries in Hobart’s victories but failing both times against the Stars.
A brief delay cut the match to 18 overs each but when Ben McDermott holed out to deep mid wicket off Dale Steyn the heavens opened again with the score 3-56 off 9.4 overs.
The lost time resulted in Hobart being left with just eight more balls, in which both David Miller (0) and Caleb Jewell (26 from 28 balls) fell top edging attempted pull shots before George Bailey managed to find the rope on the penultimate delivery.
Melbourne’s target was revised to 80 under the DLS and hometown hero James Faulkner had UTAS Stadium rocking when he trapped Nic Maddinson and Nick Larkin LBW in consecutive balls to end the first over.
He narrowly missed his hat-trick when an outside edge from Peter Handscomb lobbed just over point but from there the Stars were able to stay ahead of the asking rate.
Marcus Stoinis, who was the difference in Moe last Sunday, with an unbeaten 81 from 54, recovered from a sickening blow to the helmet from Riley Meredith to contribute a 19-ball 25, with Handscomb 22 not out.
“It was one of those nights, we were on and off the ground a few times and unfortunately we just couldn’t keep momentum in our favour when we came back on the ground,” Hurricanes skipper McDermott said.
“You do get these games sometimes, it is just taking momentum into those breaks and trying to take it out of them as well because you never know when you are coming off again.”
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