The 31st T20 match of the KFC Big Bash League was played between Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes at Optus Stadium on 7 January 2021. Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and asked Sydney Thunder to bat first. Usman Khawaja and Alex Hales were sent to the crease to open. Nicholas Winter got the new ball in hand.
Both the openers gave a tremendous start and made 48 runs without any loss at the end of the first mandatory powerplay. SYT crossed the 50 runs total in the first 5 overs and Hobart was looking for the first breakthrough. Hurricanes got the first breakthrough at the score of 59 runs in the 7th over. Sydney started great but struggled after the dismissal of Hales. Sydney Thunder lost their top 4 batsmen at 76 runs only. Then the superb inning of Alex Ross helped them to reach a total of 167 runs in the 20 overs. Khawaja with 49 runs and Ross with 44 runs were the top scorers for Thunder. Hobart Hurricanes got the target of 168 runs to win the match.
Ben McDermott and D’Arcy Short came to the crease to chase the target. Arjun Nair got the new ball in hand. That was a good start for Hurricanes as they had made 35 runs at the end of the first power play without any loss of wicket. Both the openers in the 5th over of the match were sent back by McAndrew. McAndrew showed great bowling effort and dismissed both in the same over. Dawid Malan and Peter Handscomb tried to control the damage but could not stay longer on the crease. Hobart could not get out of pressure and finished the inning at 128 runs only. Hobart had lost the match by 39 runs because of the great bowling efforts of all the bowlers of Thunder.
Sydney Thunder won the match by 29 runs and Nathan McAndrew was the Man of the Match.
Stats - Hobart Hurricanes vs Sydney Thunder Head to Head