Strikers' slam Dunk blows 'Canes away

The result: Adelaide Strikers 5-164 (Dunk 79*, Christian 2-24) defeated Hobart Hurricanes 8-161 (Webster 67*, Jordan 3-24) with 10 balls to spare

The match in a tweet: SLAM DUNK! Former Hurricane comes back to haunt his former side, blowing them out of the water with a red-hot display at a scorching Adelaide Oval.

The slam Dunk:  Ben Dunk’s first outing against his old side on Monday started promisingly as he raced to 31 off just 17 balls, only to find himself bowled by former teammate Simon Milenko. He started just as ominously at Adelaide Oval tonight, striking a six and a four off Stuart Broad’s opening over. He continued to attack, dispatching Clive Rose and D’Arcy Short into the packed Adelaide Oval stands, racing his way to a half-century. He was handed a life by Broad on 54 and while wickets fell around him, Dunk never looked hassled as he saw the Strikers home with 10 balls to spare, finishing unbeaten on 79 off 49 deliveries.

The Beau Show: Hobart Hurricanes allrounder Beau Webster stood up to be counted against the Strikers with an important half-century. The ‘Canes looked to be in all sorts of trouble at 5-30 with Tim Paine, Short, Kumar Sangakkara, Dan Christian and George Bailey all back in the sheds, before Webster combined with Jon Wells in a brilliant 89-run stand to give the Hurricanes some sort of total to bowl at. 

Webster finished unbeaten on 67 off 43 balls, while Wells scored a 37-ball 55 of his own.

The catch, and the not-quite-a-hat-trick: A classic catch from Liam O’Connor continued Sangakkara’s BBL woes, as his athletic grab sent the Sri Lanka legend on his way for just three runs. Christian was trapped lbw with Billy Stanlake’s very next ball and suddenly, the giant Strikers quick was on a hat-trick. Sadly, there was no third wicket for Stanlake, as Wells safely batted the delivery away.

The drop: Dunk was travelling along beautifully and had brought up a half century when he mis-cued a shot off the bowling of Short. It flew low towards Broad, who was unable to hang on to the chance, gifting Dunk a lift on 54. And how costly it turned out to be.

The next stops: The Hurricanes will host a team desperate to resurrect their season – the Sydney Thunder – at Blundstone arena on Sunday, while the Strikers next head to Melbourne, where they’ll play the Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Tuesday.