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Mitch Owen blasted the innings of his life to smash the Thunder to smithereens and propel the Hurricanes to their historic first BBL title in Hobart on Monday night.
The powerful opener’s record-breaking knock of 108 from just 42 deliveries, featuring 11 sixes and six fours, had to be seen to be believed and the sell-out crowd at Bellerive’s Ninja Stadium will never forget what they were lucky enough to have witnessed.
Little known before this BBL season, Owen has not just banged down the door to the Australian T20 team, he’s blown it off the hinges and Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket commentary that he should be getting a call-up to the national squad.
Hobart cruised to victory on the back of Owen’s whirlwind masterclass with seven wickets and a whopping 5.5 overs to spare as Matthew Wade’s 32 and Ben McDermott’s 18 guided them to the target of 183 and the BBL trophy for the first time.
After the JackJumpers won the NBL championship last year, Tasmania is now sparkling with silverware. Melbourne Stars are now the only BBL franchise without a title.
Owen’s innings was reminiscent of the game’s greatest master blasters – a knock that Viv Richards, Adam Gilchrist, Kevin Pietersen or Chris Gayle would have been immensely proud to call their own.
He sent Tanveer Sangha into orbit in the 10th over on his way to equalling the fastest BBL century of all time of 39 deliveries, joining Perth Scorchers cult hero Craig Simmons.
Owen sent spectators scurrying on the packed Bellerive hill a few balls later with his 11th six as Hobart hurtled to 2-138 by the halfway point of their run-chase.
His 42-ball frenzy ended when he top-edged Tom Andrews to deep square leg but by that stage, the Thunder had been reduced to rubble and the contest was over.
“It was pretty special,” Owen said in a mid-game interview soon after his one-man fireworks display.
“I was trying to stay calm out there. It was good fun.”
Mitch Owen celebrates scoring his century. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
Firmly in the zone that sportspeople inhabit when everything is going their way, Owen kept swinging for the fences and more often than not he either cleared them or blasted the ball into the rope.
When he reached his half-century off just 16 balls after lifting Nathan McAndrew to backward point for his fifth four, it was not only the third-fastest 50 in BBL history but the quickest in a final.
There was one half-chance offered on 61 when he flat-batted Chris Green for six with Ricky Ponting on Seven commentary adamant that George Garton blundered by not being right on the rope as he despairingly dived to try to reel in the tracer bullet.
“If he is back on the rope, he’s catching that,” Ponting said.
By the end of the four-over power play, he’d demolished the Sydney bowlers for six sixes as the Hurricanes reached 74 without loss, easily the highest tally for the season by any team.
“The power and the execution of these shots, not many players can do this,” Waugh said. “Six after six after six. The crowd have gone wild.
“I tell you what the Australian selectors will have to be taking notice of Mitch Owen’s batting in this tournament. It’s as good a hitting as I’ve seen for a long time. He fields well, he can bowl.”
Waugh said “his life’s just changed” and he can expect to be inundated with lucrative offers from cashed-up T20 franchises all over the globe.
Thunder captain David Warner tried spin early after his seamers were treated with contempt but nothing worked as Owen continued sweetly timing hoicks to the outer with one six off Wes Agar landing in the upper deck of the Ricky Ponting Stand.
Owen cleared the ropes twice more and hit another to the boundary to take down Agar for 22 in the over.
The 23-year-old, who has played just 23 first-class matches without hitting a century, launched a six in each of the first seven overs he faced as the Canes hit triple figures at a run rate of more than 14.
Tanveer Sangha’s leg-spin removed opener Caleb Jewell for 13 with the total on 109 and also claimed Nikhil Chaudhary two runs later but nothing could stop Owen’s onslaught.
The Thunder batters were no slouches themselves with Jason Sangha and Warner combining for a frenetic 97-run stand in just 10.2 overs.
Warner took a while to get going before finding the middle of the bat with five boundaries and a six before opposing skipper Nathan Ellis nicked him off with a slower ball.
Because wicketkeeper Matthew Wade only just snared Warner millimeters above the turf, the TV umpire triple-checked the replays while he waited at the boundary rope and new batter Matthew Gilkes stood on strike.
After an interminable wait, Gilkes inside-edged the first ball he faced onto middle stump from Ellis as the Thunder’s momentum stalled.
Sangha kept swinging and put on 37 in four overs with Sam Billings before Ellis brought pace spearhead Riley Meredith back to remove the English keeper for 20 with a pin-point yorker.
Ellis produced a trademark off-pace delivery to end Sangha’s stay at the crease on 67 from 42 balls, including five fours and a couple of sixes.
Ollie Davies (26 from 19) and Chris Green (16 from nine) put some sting in the tail end of the Thunder’s innings but little did they know that their decent total of 7-182 was not going to be anywhere near enough.