Once again winning the toss, this time Hurricanes Captain, Pete Handscomb, elected to send his side into bat. The wins for the evening seemingly ended there for the Hurricanes unfortunately. The Scorchers were fierce with the ball and relentless in the field, so much so that by the time the Hurricanes lost their first wicket in the third over of the match – Ben McDermott for 2 – the Hurricanes sat at just 1-8.
An over later with Dawid Malan fell for a duck with just one extra run being added to the board in the meantime, the ‘Canes were in dire straits. They limped to the 10th over drinks break with 3-50 on the scoreboard, meaning the Scorchers had to score just 51 runs off their first 10 overs to secure the Bash Boost point.
Things got going for the Hurricanes after the drinks break however, with D’Arcy Short – a player very familiar with Optus Stadium – hit himself into some form. Whilst his hitting was demure by his own standards, Short single-handedly rescued the ‘Canes innings, notching 54 runs off 47 balls; lasting in middle for the best part of 17 overs.
Another West Australian local, Tim David, chimed in with some late boundaries. Joined by Hurricanes debutant, Mitch Owen, at the crease, the pair of tall timber put up unbeaten knocks of 31 off 23 and 11 off seven respectively, meaning the Hurricanes finished with a total of 5-139 off their 20 overs – considerably more respectable than things were originally looking, but a tough total to defend nonetheless.
With Riley Meredith returning to the side following his late withdrawal from the previous match, the Hurricanes were buoyed when he took the new ball for the first over of the second innings. He was at his scintillating best, beating Scorchers’ opener, Jason Roy, effortlessly for the first five balls of the over, only for Roy to toe the final ball of the over for six, which, unfortunately, that set the tone for the rest of the innings.
Try as the Hurricanes bowlers might, Roy and his opening partner, Liam Livingstone, were in rare form. The pair of Englishmen raced away to 74* off 52 and 54 off 29 respectively, with little respite for those toiling away in the field.
Scott Boland did breakthrough to get the wicket of Livingstone in the 15th over, but by then it was too little, too late, with the Scorchers notching up the winning runs in the 17th over.
The Hurricanes will now spend a few more days in Perth, before flying to Canberra ahead of their next KFC BBL|10 match.
The Sydney Thunder will host the Hurricanes at Manuka Oval on Monday 18 January. The first ball will be bowled at 7.15pm, local time.