BREAKTHROUGH

THE Hurricanes have breathed life back into their BBL campaign, surviving a Jos Buttler onslaught for the second time in three nights to finally open their 2017-18 account in Sydney.

After D’Arcy Short (97 from 63 balls) and Ben McDermott (49 not out from 25) had sparked a batting revival to help Hobart to an imposing 3-189, a gallant Thunder threatened to pull off the biggest chase in franchise history before falling nine runs short at Spotless Stadium.

Buttler cracked 67 from 41 balls at UTAS Stadium on Saturday night — including 28 from one Tom Rogers over — and backed up with a breathtaking 81 from 43 last night, crunching seven boundaries and five sixes in the process.

The Englishman and Kurtis Patterson piled on 65 runs in the powerplay to launch the run chase, before Shane Watson (36 from 31) kept the home side on track with some destructive hitting.

However a crucial 15th over from leg spinner Cameron Boyce — who removed Watson and Callum Ferguson in consecutive deliveries while only conceding six runs — eventually left too much on Buttler’s shoulders.

With 23 required from the last over he was run out by Matthew Wade trying to scamper a single off the first ball to get back on strike, but even then the visitors couldn’t completely shut the door.

Gurinder Sandhu slapped Dan Christian for six and then edged a four to fine leg to leave the equation 12 from two, but when he could only drag a single to the deep on the second last ball, the Hurricanes had finally fallen across the line.

Skipper George Bailey admitted there was a sense a relief to the breakthrough win, although it could have been far more comfortable had Jofra Archer not shelled a straightforward catch at long on when Buttler was on just 40.

“A little bit of relief at how tight it got but more excitement, I think we saw a couple of really nice individual innings from D’Arcy and Benny McDermott,” Bailey said.

“With 190 on the board, we probably should have won with a little more to spare if we had of caught Jos a little earlier, but great to get a win.

“The chats we have had around the first couple of games have been the top order haven’t given themselves enough time, so it was great to see two younger guys take that on board and give themselves a chance.”

The Hurricanes will look to continue building on the momentum when it hosts Adelaide at Blundstone Arena on Thursday.