Short went to his century with a match-winning boundary as Strikers reeled in Hobart Hurricanes' total of 229 for 4
Adelaide: Hobart Hurricanes 229-4, Adelaide Strikers 230-3 - Adelaide Strikers win by seven wickets
An unbeaten hundred from Matt Short dragged Adelaide Strikers to the highest run-chase in Big Bash history as Hobart Hurricanes lost despite posting their biggest total in 12 years of competition.
He drove Faheem Ashraf for four to simultaneously reach three figures and end a remarkable game at the Adelaide Oval, which for long periods had seemed destined to end in a Hobart victory.
He hit eight fours and three sixes in his 59-ball knock, his first T20 century.
When Ryan Gibson was bowled by Paddy Dooley in the second over of Adelaide's reply to Hurricanes' 229 for 4, victory for Strikers looked a long way off. But Short (100*) and Chris Lynn shared a 124-run stand in 9.4 overs for the second wicket, which only ended when Lynn (64) holed out to extra cover off Dooley.
But Short – captaining in place of the injured Peter Siddle – continued in fine fashion, well supported by Adam Hose (38) as the wheels fell off for Hurricanes, who conceded 21 extras and missed chances to break the key Short-Lynn partnership.
They felt hard done by when Hose was given a life by the third umpire, who adjudged his dismissal off Faheem Ashraf to have courtesy of a waist-high no-ball.
Matt Short made his first T20 hundred (Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Matthew Wade complained vociferously to on-field umpire Paul Wilson, and that frustration was compounded when the free hit was sliced over cover-point for six by the Englishman. For Ashraf, his evening worsened from there, conceding 61 runs in 3.3 overs – the third-worst figures ever in the Big Bash and the most expensive by a Hobart bowler.
He was fortunate not to be taken out of the attack when the first ball of his final over – the last of the match – was also called a no-ball for height.
He was far from alone in going the distance, however: Nathan Ellis conceded 44 runs in his four overs, while Mitchell Owen went for 33 in two and Riley Meredith 43 in four.
Earlier, Zak Crawley (54*) had made a rapid half century in his first Big Bash appearance, coming out at the unusual position of No.4 to reach his fifty off the final ball of the innings, slog-sweeping Wes Agar over midwicket for his third six.
That was the third fifty-plus score of Hurricanes' innings, following openers Ben McDermott (57) and Caleb Jewell (54), both of whom had also made fifties in the reverse fixture at Blundstone Arena, as Hobart racked up 229 – the second-highest Big Bash total at the Adelaide Oval until Strikers usurped them two hours later.
Zak Crawley made 54 on his Big Bash debut (Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Colin de Grandhomme was Strikers' most successful bowler, picking up the wickets of Jewell and Owen, but also conceded 45 runs in his four overs.
His fellow overseas player, Rashid Khan, went for just 25 in his final spell before leaving the tournament, preventing even more damage from being done.
Between them, seamers Henry Thornton, Harry Conway and Agar served up 121 runs in just eight overs, with Hobart's batters – a line-up powerful enough to leave out D'Arcy Short – smashing 14 sixes in their 20 overs.
But that wasn't to matter at the end of a game that saw 459 runs in just 39.3 overs, with Strikers coming out on top in the end.
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