Skipper Matthew Wade concede the Canes bowling wasn’t up to scratch

Hobart entered the eliminator riding a wave of momentum on the back of three consecutive victories, but skipper Matthew Wade conceded they were outplayed in every facet last night.

HURRICANES skipper Matthew Wade concedes his side was outplayed in every facet when it mattered most after crashing out of the Big Bash last night.

Hobart entered the eliminator riding a wave of momentum on the back of three consecutive victories which catapulted it from second last to fourth in the final week of the regular season.

However a lack of execution saw the Sydney Thunder gate crash the party to consign the Hurricanes to a third defeat in as many home finals in the history of the BBL.

Thunder openers Alex Hales (60 off 37 balls) and Usman Khawaja (54 from 34) piled on a 103-run stand at more than 10 an over to lay the foundation of an imposing 5-197, with the Hurricanes top order unable to keep pace to slump to a 57-run defeat.

“We got outplayed, simple as that, you can’t look at it any other way to be honest,” Wade said.

“They got off to a flyer with the bat, we didn’t bowl anywhere near as good as we have over the last three or four games.

“And then with the bat we just didn’t get off to the start we wanted.

“We just miss executed a little bit tonight and to be fair they got away and played some good shots, that happens sometimes in BBL.

“We weren’t quite at our best with both bat or ball and in the field, we got outplayed in all three facets and if you are not winning one of them in T20 you are in a bit of strife.”

The result was a complete reversal of the meeting between the two sides a week ago at the same venue, where the Hurricanes won by the same margin to catapult Sydney on the ladder.

The one shining light from the defeat was the performance of Nathan Ellis, who confirmed his status as one of the finds of the tournament.

Ellis finished with figures of 1-18 from his four overs – not conceding a single boundary in the process – to help limit the damage after the rest of the attack went at near 10 runs an over or more.

“He is a banker, he has been exceptional,” Wade said.

“He has been unbelievable bowling [overs] four, six, 18 and 20, it’s remarkable his figures, he has been able to execute time and time again.

“As we all know he will have his challenges going into next year, when guys see you for the first time often it is when you have your most success.

“He will have to put the work in again next year but he is certainly something we found from nowhere.

“He will play a lot more white ball cricket for Tassie and he has the potential to play red ball as well.”