Hobart Hurricanes 207 for 4 (Ward 90, Owen 45, Sams 3-36) beat Sydney Thunder 205 for 4 (Warner 130*, Maddinson 30, Prestwidge 2-19) by six wickets
Warner wound back the clock with an unbeaten 130 off 65 balls at the Sydney Showground Stadium on Saturday night, whacking nine sixes and 11 fours to steer Thunder to 205 for 4.
Ward (90 off 49) and Owen (45 off 18) responded with a 108-run opening partnership in just 51 balls to set Hurricanes on track for a record run-chase.
Ward looked set for a century before he mistimed an attempted scoop off Daniel Sams (3 for 36), the second of three quick wickets that gave Thunder a sniff. Nikhil Chaudhary (29* off 14) then comfortably steered Hurricanes home as they reached 207 for 4 with 13 balls to spare.
“I thought (our total) was very competitive, but we knew, up top, the strength and power that they had,” player-of-the-match Warner said. “It was one of those games where Wardy or Mitchy were probably going to go off, but they both went off, which is unfortunate. But they played very well.
“They’re a class team and they’ve chased very well the last couple of years. Without (injured star) Tim David you think you’re a bit of a chance. But when they get off to a good start and there’s no early wickets and no pressure, they can play the way that they wanted to. They dictated from the get-go.”
Warner’s century was the second of his BBL career and first since December 2011, as well as the highest individual score in Thunder’s history. It moved him into equal-third place for most men’s T20 hundreds with nine, behind Chris Gayle (22) and Babar Azam (11).
Earlier, Warner watched from the non-striker’s end as Hurricanes’ Will Prestwidge dismissed Matthew Gilkes and Sam Konstas with the first two deliveries of the match. Unfortunately for Prestwidge, his hat-trick ball was an off-target in-swinger that slid wide down the leg side.
Prestwidge (2 for 19) and Nathan Ellis (1 for 46) were Hobart’s only wicket-takers, but Ellis went for 30 off the final over as Warner took 50 runs off the last 15 balls he faced.
