Hughes intensifies as the Sixers defeat the Canes following Meredith’s injury.
rife with injuries The Sydney Sixers, led by Daniel Hughes, defeated the Hobart Hurricanes by six wickets, and Riley Meredith, a speedster for the Hurricanes, appeared to have strained his side. Starting the KFC BBL|13 season 2-0, the Sixers defeated the Hurricanes 8-135 in Launceston on Monday night with four balls remaining. Before the first Test match against Pakistan on Thursday, Steve Smith left the squad, and Hughes took his place, scoring an undefeated sixty-five from fifty balls. Together, he and Moises Henriques (20 from 24 balls) scored 47 runs to settle a good portion of the chase.
Jordan Silk contributed 23 runs before getting out in the second-to-last over. Sydney needed seven off of six deliveries when Hughes hit a massive leg-side six off Nathan Ellis to guarantee victory. Next, Tom Curran used a boundary through the covers to ice the game.
Halfway through the third over of the chase, Meredith delivered a ball at 152 km/h and pulled up, gesturing to his side. It was his first home game following a side strain he sustained while playing for Tasmania in the Marsh One-Day Cup in September. Hurricanes coach Jeff Vaughan said on Channel Seven that Tuesday’s scans would be available for Meredith.
“He’ll be ready for the game tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll receive a scan and some additional information. As of right now, that’s all we know,” he informed the broadcaster. Before the wheels came off following the Powerplay, Hobart opener Caleb Jewell (42 from 24) had his team off to a flying start. Curran (3-19) started the damage when he had Jewell caught at mid-off in the sixth over.
Fellow quick Ben Dwarshuis (2-21) then picked up England import Sam Hain and Australia representative Tim David for single figures in his first over. Young allrounder Jack Edwards also got in on the action, with wicketkeeper Josh Philippe snaffling a one-handed diving catch at full stretch to grab the edge of Ben McDermott. Edwards had bowled just one over in his previous thirty BBL matches, but he finished with 2-18 from four overs.
Before imports Chris Jordan (16 from 21) and Corey Anderson (17 from 27) stopped the bleeding, Hobart was down to 5-69 in the ninth over. With 2-10, Anderson from New Zealand was the best bowler for Hobart.
