Marsh, Hardie halt Hurricanes' home run

Hobart Hurricanes vs Perth Scorchers

In a record-breaking New Year's Day encounter, the Perth Scorchers unleashed a batting masterclass to dismantle the Hobart Hurricanes by 40 runs and end their impressive nine-game winning streak at home. Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Hardie combined for a historic partnership worth 164 runs that propelled Scorchers to a massive 229/3 - their third 200-plus total this season - before the bowlers combined to keep Hurricanes to 189/9.

Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bowl, a decision that initially seemed validated when Nathan Ellis bowled Finn Allen for 16 and Mitchell Owen dismissed Cooper Connolly for just 4. With the Scorchers wobbling at 2 for 53 at the start of the sixth over, the Hurricanes appeared to have the upper hand. However, the momentum shifted permanently when Matthew Wade dropped Mitchell Marsh on 18. It was a costly reprieve for the Hurricanes, as Marsh transformed into a relentless aggressor.

Marsh hammered a sublime 102 off 58 deliveries, an innings that included a massive six off Chris Jordan on the very first ball he faced. Alongside him, Hardie played a breathtaking supporting role, remaining unbeaten on 94 from just 43 balls. Together, the pair forged a new BBL partnership record for the third wicket, in just 84 balls. Their clinical hitting left the Hurricanes' bowlers with no answers; even seasoned campaigners like Jordan and Riley Meredith found themselves under siege.

Marsh eventually fell in the final over, caught on the boundary, but the damage was already done as Perth set the hosts a daunting target. Chasing 230, the Hurricanes were always behind the required rate despite a spirited effort. Ben McDermott and Nikhil Chaudhary attempted to keep the team in the hunt, but the scoreboard pressure forced risks that the Scorchers' disciplined bowling unit exploited. Hobart's middle order struggled to maintain the necessary tempo of 11.5 runs per over.

While McDermott found the boundary occasionally, the lack of a substantial partnership meant the Hurricanes were consistently losing wickets at crucial junctures. The Scorchers' fielding was sharp, providing a stark contrast to the Hurricanes' earlier lapses. As the overs ticked down, the match transitioned from a competitive chase into a damage-limitation exercise for the hosts.

The Hurricanes eventually finished their 20 overs at 9 for 189, falling well short of the target. For Scorchers, the victory served as perfect revenge for their loss to the same opposition earlier in the week and solidified their standing as the most dangerous batting unit in the season. Marsh deservedly bagged Player of the Match for his drought-breaking century, while Hardie also backed up his batting show with two wickets.

Brief scores: Perth Scorchers 229/3 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 102, Aaron Hardie 94*) beat Hobart Hurricanes 189/9 in 20 overs (Nikhil Chaudhary 31, Matthew Wade 29; Ashton Agar 3-38, Aaron Hardie 2-27) by 40 runs

Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Sixers

Sean Abbott's 3-16 paved the way for Sydney Sixers' six-wicket win over Melbourne Renegades at Docklands Stadium on Thursday. After restricting Renegades to 164 for 9, Sixers chased down the target with five balls to spare.

After a slow start, Josh Brown cut loose against Ben Dwarshuis in the third over, hammering the pacer for two boundaries and as many sixes. A couple of overs later, he even went after Hayden Kerr, hitting a boundary and two sixes off successive deliveries, but holed out to deep cover right after.

His explosive start had allowed Renegades to a strong start in the powerplay, but runs were hard to come by from the other end. Moreover, the Sixers bowlers kept chipping in with wickets at regular intervals, keeping a check on their scoring.

Jake Fraser-McGurk and Hassan Khan played useful hands in the second half of the innings, but a fine last over by Abbott, in which he conceded only six runs and picked up two wickets ensured that the total wasn't too challenging for the visitors.

In response, Sixers made a steady start to the run-chase, with Daniel Hughes and Babar Azam playing out the powerplay for only 46 runs before the former was caught behind. They kept finding boundaries every over without taking too many risks.

Babar held the innings together well stroking an unbeaten 46-ball 58, while wickets kept falling at regular intervals from the other end. Nonetheless, handy contributions came from the other end. Moises Henriques chipped in with a 18-ball 23 while Joel Davies provided the late surge.

With the scoring rate mounting, Davies took down Jason Behrendorff for 17 runs in the 16th over and meted out a similar treatment to Hassan in the next. Babar brought up his 97th T20 half-century before ending the run chase with a lofted drive for a boundary. With this victory, Sixers handed Renegades their third successive loss of the season.

Brief Scores: Melbourne Renegades 164/9 in 20 overs (Josh Brown 49, Jake Fraser-McGurk 38; Sean Abbott 3-16, Jack Edwards 2-23) lost to Sydney Sixers 168/4 in 19.2 overs (Babar Azam 58*, Joel Davies 34*; Gurinder Sandhu 2-23) by 6 wickets