Hobart Hurricanes 148 for 4 (Hain 51, Anderson 41*, O'Neill 2-25) beat Melbourne Renegades 147 for 4 (Cox 47, Wells 38, David 1-0) by six wickets
The Hobart Hurricanes have snapped a 10-match BBL losing streak away from Tasmania with a six-wicket triumph over the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.
The Hurricanes restricted the under-fire Renegades to 147 for 4 and then cruised to their target with eight balls to spare as Corey Anderson (41 not out) steered them home.
Sam Hain (51) was just as critical to the breakthrough victory on the road and played a leading role in an 84-run stand with Anderson as the Hurricanes finished with 148 with eight balls remaining.
The Hurricanes had not won on the mainland in almost two years since edging past the Renegades at the same venue in January 2022. They are now two points away from the third spot with a game in hand.
However, the Hurricanes will be sweating on the fitness of Hain after the England batter sustained a hamstring issue after being recalled into the XI in place of the injured Matthew Wade.
"I'll be honest, I've not gone the way I wanted so far," Hain told Channel 7 about his BBL season while receiving the player-of-the-match award. "We'll say it (the hamstring concern) is a cramp, but I'll have to assess it with a physio to see how it pulls up."
Fergus O'Neill (2 for 25) made an immediate impact in his BBL debut with the wickets of Caleb Jewell (13) and Ben McDermott (25) to boost the Renegades' hopes in the second innings.
McDermott had confused both teams earlier in his innings after lodging a ball in the Marvel Stadium roof with a massive strike. He catapulted a loose delivery from Tom Rogers so high over midwicket that the ball became stuck among the rafters of the closed roof, rather than falling back.
This is wild
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 4, 2024
Ben McDermott just hit a six that got lost - IN THE ROOF?!#BBL13 pic.twitter.com/58F4zWScnz
The umpire signalled a six for the lofty strike, although batters are no longer automatically awarded maximum runs for hitting the roof under changes to Cricket Australia's playing conditions this season. McDermott's shot had to have been adjudged to be flying over the boundary for the umpire to award six runs.
The Renegades earlier overcame a slow start to compile 4 for 147 as Jordan Cox led the recovery. The Gades crawled to only 56 runs from their opening 12 overs, before Cox kickstarted their innings with a huge six during the power surge.
Cox was the main aggressor in a critical 66-run stand with Jonathan Wells for the fourth wicket, until lofting a quicker ball from Riley Meredith (1 for 34) to Chris Jordan at mid-on.
The Hurricanes had the hosts on the ropes from the opening over after Tim David dismissed Shaun Marsh caught behind for a duck to complete a wicket maiden. Left-arm spinner Patrick Dooley (0 for 16) was another key to restricting the Renegades' top order, delivering 15 dot balls in four tight overs.
