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Mitch Owen and Riley Meredith blew the Sydney Sixers away with quality blitzes which proved crucial in their BBL Qualifier for the final at Bellerive on Tuesday night.
Owen blasted the bowling to start the match with a bang and Meredith tore through the Sydney top order with a sizzling spell of raw pace as the Hurricanes overcame a strong Sixers fightback to register a nail-biting 12-run win at the sold-out Ninja Stadium.
After topping the table, they are through to the final next Monday just one win away from their first BBL trophy while the Sixers return home with their tail between their legs to prepare for a Friday night SCG showdown with the winner of Wednesday’s Thunder vs Stars
Meredith has played a single ODI for Australia and taken nine wickets in six T20s and if he can keep producing high-pace quality performances like this spell, he will scoot ahead in the logjam of quicks trying to succeed Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins as they gradually fade away from the white-ball formats in the international arena.
The 28-year-old ranks alongside Lance Morris as the fastest of the next generation of pace bowlers and his hostile deliveries proved unsettling on a beautiful batting wicket.
“He set the tone for us, he has all season,” Hurricanes skipper Nathan Ellis said. “This is the most professional and finished product of Riley Meredith that I’ve seen in a long time. He’s just gone up another level this year.
“It was a stellar start and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Owen is yet to represent his country but it won’t be too long before he gets a crack in the T20 squad after the 23-year-old opener smashed 344 runs at 38.22 in this BBL campaign at the astronomical strike rate of 191.11, including an unbeaten 101 early on against the Scorchers.
The breakout star of the BBL season set the tone for the match from the very first over when he lifted Sixers skipper Jack Edwards over the long off boundary and then smashed another one to the cover rope.
He went four, six, four to finish the next over from Mitch Perry and even Ben Dwarshuis was unable to stem the bleeding when the experienced left-armer was pulled over mid-wicket by Owen with a poor old spectator not only fumbling the crowd catch but falling down a small set of stairs to become an unwanted viral video sensation.
Mitch Owen hits a six during the BBL Qualifier match against Sydney Sixers. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
The Hurricanes had hurtled to 43 without loss after three overs before Hayden Kerr finally stopped the flow of boundaries and Owen perished to a catch in the deep from the first ball sent down by English leg-spinner Jafer Chohan.
Although Owen did not kick on to put up a big score, his 36 from 15 propelled Hobart to a flyer and after Matthew Wade fell cheaply to a superb diving catch to Edwards, opener Caleb Jewll (40 from 41) and Ben McDermott (42 from 31) consolidated the early onslaught.
Tim David nicked his first ball for four and creamed his second for six as part of his 10-ball cameo of 25 which helped the hosts post 7-173.
Tasmania’s favourite cricketing son, Ricky Ponting, thought the score was a touch under par on Seven commentary due to the ideal batting surface but David, miked up on-field, thought it would be a more than competitive score in the pressure cooker of a playoff game.
And so it proved when Meredith steamed in with the new ball to sink the Sixers’ chances with a lightning spell.
Clocking the speed gun at more than 152km/h, he was too quick for opener Josh Philippe, who departed for a second-ball duck when he skied a pull shot straight up the chimney to Wade.
Journeyman Cameron Gannon removed Edwards in the second over, also without scoring, when he was caught on the deep third boundary before Meredith snared the big wickets of Moises Henriques.
The Sydney skipper was not quick enough to get to the pitch of a Meredith thunderbolt and nicked the ball to the vacant first slip but McDermott flew horizontally from a floating position in the cordon to cling onto a classic catch.
At 3-5, their worst start to a BBL innings in franchise history, the Sixers regrouped on the back of seasoned campaigners Kurtis Patterson and Jordan Silk to still be in the contest by the halfway mark at 3-67.
Patterson picked out a fielder in the deep just when he looked like he was about to launch the Sixers into an even-money chance, out for 46 from 33 to the first ball of Gannon’s second spell.
Silk is a smooth operator but he’s not the kind of batter who can tear bowling attack apart.
He kept the Sixers in with a sniff deep into the run-chase with 57 from 44 but his knock came to an end when he was unable to hoick the ball over Chris Jordan on the long-on boundary off Nathan Ellis.
Dwarshuis connected with a humungous six to leave the Sixers needing 21 from the final over.
Jordan’s experience shone through as the 36-year-old England white-ball stalwart giving the Sixers nothing to hit as they fell short in an epic start to the BBL playoff series.