Born-again Christian a thorn in Heat's side

As Dan Christian's massive six sailed up, up and away out of the Gabba, none seemed more surprised than the Hobart Hurricanes allrounder himself.

On a night where a KFC Big Bash League crowd of almost 30,000 were thrilled by a total of 16 maximums, Christian and his former Brisbane Heat teammate Chris Lynn went head to head in the big-hitting stakes – the former smashing four and the latter seven.

But none was as big as Christian's whopping six off the bowling of Luke Feldman in the 19th over that landed on the roof of the stadium. Claimed to be 117m by commentator Adam Gilchrist, it sent umpires Ash Burrow and Simon Fry scrambling to find a replacement ball.

Christian's unbeaten 56 off 24 balls proved decisive, lifting the Hurricanes to 4-194 off their 20 overs.

WATCH: Huge sixes dominate Gabba clash

Asked if he'd had an inkling he could hit that far, Christian was quick to tell cricket.com.au: "Not at all, not at all."

"At the end of the innings in front of a huge crowd you're trying to hit every ball for six. Your beans are going and the adrenaline is flowing.

"I got that one out of the middle of the bat and it was one of those things. I wasn’t expecting it to go that far but it's a nice feeling when it does."

Making the innings somewhat bittersweet for the 32-year-old journeyman allrounder was the fact it came against his former BBL team.

Christian, who made the most recent of his 34 limited overs appearances for Australia during the 2014 World T20, moved to the Hurricanes for BBL|05 after four years in teal.

"It was nice to have a win, but unfortunate for Brisbane who've now lost another one,” he said.

"They're a better side than what their record shows. I know it's disappointing personally for a lot of their players, I know them well.

"But we had to go out there and win the game to keep our momentum going, so I'm sure they'll bounce back."

The win took the Hurricanes to 2-1 after three games, with their performance in stark contrast to their capitulation to the Sixers at the SCG in their season opener.

"It's been huge for us to turn it around after that nightmare in first game," Christian said.

"In most tournaments like this you tend to have a bad game, so it was nice that we got that one out of the way early."

After Christian's blazing knock, Heat skipper Lynn produced a sensational innings of his own, blasting 101 off 51 balls to have the Hurricanes very, very nervous.

WATCH: Lynn's blazing century

"Lynn's innings was as good as you'll see anywhere in the world at any level, so we were pretty lucky to get a win after an innings like that," Christian said.

Lynn seemed determined to send a second ball out of the stadium, sending a series of deliveries high into the Brisbane crowd.

"He went pretty close quite a few times, it was unbelievable. We were lucky that Cameron Boyce got him in the 18th over and broke the back of the chase."

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