Hurricanes knock out Stars in rain-curtailed thriller

Melbourne Stars will remain the only club without Big Bash silverware as Mitch Owen held his nerve in a rain-reduced final-ball thriller to keep his Hobart Hurricanes' title defence alive.

Defending five off the final ball to progress to Friday's Challenger against Sydney Sixers, Hilton Cartwright could only squeeze a single to deep cover as the Stars dropped out of the KFC BBL|15 finals race.

The Stars were initially chasing 115 from 10 overs after Hobart's wet weather delayed the start of the Knockout clash at Ninja Stadium, which then became 85 from seven overs following another downpour two overs into their innings.

It came down to 26 runs from the final six deliveries from Owen, and despite sixes from each of Marcus Stoinis and Cartwright in the last over, they fell an agonising three runs short of their target.

It means reigning champions Hobart will face off with the Sixers at the SCG for a spot in Sunday's BBL|15 Final against Perth Scorchers, while the Stars' wait for a maiden Big Bash title goes on.

Test allrounder Beau Webster hit 47 from 26 balls to lead the Hurricanes to 5-114 from their 10 overs when play eventually got underway 90 minutes after the scheduled start time.

Stars skipper Stoinis had no hesitation in bowling first when the rain cleared enough to allow a 9.05pm start, and the decision paid off immediately as Glenn Maxwell had the dangerous Mitch Owen out stumped in the first over.

Hurricanes counterpart Ben McDermott, standing in as skipper for Nathan Ellis who missed the do-or-die clash with a minor hamstring niggle, couldn't capitalise on an early life as he was trapped plumb in front by a Stoinis slower ball and was out for 12 from seven balls.

But Nikhil Chaudhary cashed in when Tom Curran put down a soda after he skied a Haris Rauf delivery to mid-off, proceeding to carve the two balls over the rope on the leg side.

Though he fell the following ball for 24 off 11 as Campbell Kellaway made no such mistake at deep point, the damage was done as the penultimate over cost the Stars a hefty 18 runs – the most expensive of the innings until Webster hit 21 from the last.

Webster dispatched Curran onto the hill thrice in the final over to give the home side a decisive momentum boost heading into the innings break.

Rauf (2-27) was the pick of the Stars bowlers but his allotted two overs proved expensive, while Stoinis took 1-6 from his sole over and Maxwell 1-9 from the opening set.

Leg-spinner Mitch Swepson bowled superbly in the wet conditions to concede just 12 runs from his two overs.

Riley Meredith (2-18) struck with his first ball as Tom Rogers was no match for his full and inswinging thunderbolt as the Stars limped to 1-9 from two overs before the heavens opened once more and threatened to rob them of a chance to complete their run chase.

When play resumed 15 minutes later, they needed more than two runs per ball to win, with their target now 85 in seven overs.

English import Joe Clarke gave the innings some much-needed impetus with 31 from 17 but recently announced player of the tournament Sam Harper couldn't find any of the strike in the opening four overs, facing just four balls for four runs.

Meredith slipped over running to retrieve a ball at short third, highlighting how treacherous the wet conditions were for the sides throughout the match. The right-arm speedster bounced back in his next over however to remove Clarke who holed out to deep point.

Harper then retired out for 10 after the first ball of the penultimate over to allow Maxwell an opportunity to take on the spin of Rishad Hossain.

But the 36 required from the final 11 balls proved a bridge too far for even the power-packed trio of Maxwell, Stoinis and Cartwright.

Tickets for Friday night's Challenger are still available, while all remaining tickets for Sunday's Final will go on sale at 10am AWST on Saturday after the Scorchers' opponent is decided.

BBL|15 finals schedule

Qualifier: Perth Scorchers beat Sydney Sixers by 48 runs

Knockout: Hobart Hurricanes beat Melbourne Stars by three runs (DLS method)

Challenger: Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes, SCG (Friday, January 23, 7.15pm AEDT)

Final: Perth Scorchers v winner of Challenger, Optus Stadium (Sunday, January 25, 7.15pm AEDT)

*A reserve day on Monday, January 26 (7.15pm AEDT) is available for the Final

KFC BBL|15 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	7	3	0	0	1.363	0	14
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	3	0	1	0.605	0	13
3 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	6	3	0	1	0.331	0	13
4 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	6	4	0	0	0.759	0	12
5 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	5	5	0	0	-0.431	0	10
6 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.231	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	3	7	0	0	-1.202	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	2	8	0	0	-1.212	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points