Short goes long to hammer Strikers

The match in a tweet: Strikers feel the Paine as Short goes long! Christian's five sets up Hobart's big win before openers hammer Adelaide

The score: Adelaide Strikers 143 (Hodge 55, Christian 5-14) lost to Hobart Hurricanes 2-144 (Short 60, Paine 41) by eight wickets with 14 balls to spare

The hero: D'Arcy Short's brilliant introduction into BBL cricket continued tonight, the left-hander clubbing 60 from just 39 balls as Hobart cruised to victory in their run chase. The Northern Territory-born opener slammed seven fours and three sixes in a 105-run partnership with skipper Tim Paine, including a monster six onto the roof off the bowling of Michael Neser.

The six: Speaking of which, sit back and enjoy this monster. As Damien Fleming said in commentary, there's nothing Short about this one.

The figures: With three wickets in the final over of the innings, Dan Christian picked up a five-wicket haul and the second-best figures in BBL history. Remarkably, the allrounder hadn't bowled a single delivery in the tournament before tonight, but was brought on in the third over and then returned late on to clean up the tail and finish with 5-14. It's the second five-wicket haul of BBL|06 after Sean Abbott on New Year's Eve, but the pair are still behind Lasith Malinga's stunning figures of 6-7 for the Melbourne Stars four years ago.

The support cast: Tim Paine is out of favour in Sheffield Shield cricket, but he's been in fine form in the BBL so far this season. The right-hander added a steady 41 from 42 balls tonight as Short went on the attack, moving the keeper-batsman ahead of Chris Lynn as the leading runscorer of the tournament so far.

The horror start: Strikers bowler Michael Neser had the unusual figures of 0-13 from just a single delivery during his first over of the night. Having been deposited into the top tier by D'Arcy Short first ball, Neser then over-stepped and Short sent him over the rope again. The free hit mercifully just went for a single, but the right-armer finished with 21 off the over as Hobart cruised to victory.

The veteran: Brad Hodge has indicated that BBL|06 will be his last year in Australian cricket, but the veteran might change his mind if this current form continues. The 42-year-old's innings of 55 from 45 balls was the bedrock of Adelaide's below-par total, and featured three sixes. The veteran is the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament this season and is showing no signs of slowing down.

The over: Simon Milenko's introduction into the bowling attack was a spectacular one. Ben Dunk sent him into the top tier as he clubbed 20 runs from the first five balls, before Milenko responded with a perfect yorker to bowl his Tasmania teammate for 31.

The wash-up: It was an important win for the Hurricanes, who move into the top four ahead of a re-match with the Strikers in Adelaide on Friday. It will be a crucial match for the Strikers as Jason Gillespie's side now sit second-last after four matches.