Hobart Hurricane 161 beats for six (Chaudhary 42, McDermott 34, Owen 33, Bird 4-16) sydney sixers 111 (Henriquez 22, Jordan 3-22, Stan Lake 2-22, Salaamkhail 2-22) 50 points
Hobart Hurricanes overcame a late withdrawal from captain Nathan Ellis to hand the Sydney Sixers their first BBL loss of the season.
Ellis withdrew from Wednesday afternoon’s match at the Ninja Stadium due to illness, but his bowling team-mates fought back against the table-topping Sixers.
The Hurricanes were bowled out at 161 for 6 and jumped to fourth on the ladder with their third successive win in Sydney after being bowled out for 111 in 19.3 overs. Chris Jordan took 3 for 22, including the big wicket of James Vince early on and famous finisher Jordan Silk in the middle overs. He was helped by fellow import Waqar Salamkheil, who made 22 with a left-arm wrist spin and bowled Kurtis Patterson the other way.
All-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary top-scored with 42 off 31 deliveries and was impressive, getting 1 for 15 with the ball.
The Sixers, who remain atop the ladder, had 4 wins and 4 losses before the game, while the Hurricanes are on the rise after losing to the Melbourne Renegades in their opener.
Earlier, evergreen Sixers’ fast Jackson Bird took career-best T20 figures with 4 for 16 on familiar turf in Hobart after his side won the toss and elected to bowl.
Bird, 38, who has played for Tasmania for more than a decade, removed pinch hitters Matthew Wade, Shai Hope, Ben McDermott and Tim David.
Opener Mitchell Owen gave the Hurricanes a lively start with 33 off 17 balls but was unable to continue.
Wade, returning from a calf injury, was scratched from 16-ball 15 and became Bird’s first victim with a superb catch and bowling. Bird caught West Indian Hope two balls later as the Hurricanes lost three wickets for 10 runs.
McDermott (34 off 25) survived a power surge by hitting 20 in an over from Hayden Kerr, but was canceled out by Bird. Bird also came back late to remove David via the top edge.
The Sixers’ chase got a bright spark early on when England opener Vince headed a Billy Stanlake delivery over the hill. But they faltered at 28 for 3 in their first five overs and were unable to stem the tide of wickets.
Hurricanes spinner Peter Hatzoglou, playing his first match of the season in place of Ellis, finished with 1 for 15.
