Short century gives Hurricanes big win in Perth

The match in a tweet: D'Arcy dynamite! Short explodes for Big Bash century as Hurricanes blow away Scorchers on their home turf

The score: Hobart Hurricanes 2-180 (Short 103*) beat the Perth Scorchers 8-172 (Marsh 48, Boland 2-29) by eight runs.

The Hero: D'Arcy Short hadn't been having the best of KFC BBL seasons before he landed in Perth, but a century here could be just the tonic to get his season fizzing.

But it will be cold comfort for the Hobart Hurricanes that his was his last match with the men in purple before jetting off to India with Australia's ODI side for a whirlwind three-match series.

No less than four dropped catches en route to his ton certainly helped his cause but he made the most of his luck.

The opener has been struggling for fluency this season, and it showed again in this innings. He did well enough as the Scorchers opened with pace but was tied down as they turned to spin with Fawad Ahmed, Ashton Agar and Liam Livingstone all causing him issues.

But once he was through that period, he found the freedom to explode and crashed seven sixes – each worth $250 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal (and matched by the club) – the last of which was ramped over third man for a six off the final ball to seal the century.

The Big Moment(s): Dropping D'Arcy Short isn't a wise idea. Dropping him four times is practically criminal in T20 cricket.

Tim David was a last-minute inclusion into the Perth Scorchers side after Ashton Turner went down with an illness on the day of the match, a tough ask for his first BBL action since January 2018. But the 23-year-old does have international experience, playing a handful of T20 internationals for Singapore in recent months.

Even so, the chance he put down with Short on 21 was straightforward as a David ran in off the boundary and spilled the chance off his chest.

Short was dropped again on 38 when he fired a return chance at Liam Livingstone. It would have been a screamer had it stuck but the England import did well enough to get a hand on it in his follow through.

Short had moved to 68 by the time the ball came David's way again – this time he didn't run in far enough as a chance off Fawad Ahmed fell in front of him. Crucially, this would have put two new Hurricanes batters at the crease after 16 overs and stalled their late-innings attack.

And just for good measure, he was dropped on 92 by Jhye Richardson running back with the flight of the ball in the final over … five balls before he repeated the shot for the six that brought up his ton.

The Debutant: Scott Boland made his Hobart Hurricanes debut in this match and made an almost immediate impact. His first ball was tidy, his second was a peach, nipping off the seam just enough to take the outside edge of Cameron Bancroft's bat.

The next ball Mitchell Marsh hit back at the bowler and Boland got a fingertip to it to deflect it onto the stumps and leave Josh Inglis well short of his ground.

He finished with 2-29 from his four overs, and the promise of more games ahead.

The injuries: Riley Meredith was rapid but took himself off the ground with a side strain after his second over to add to Hobart's list of the walking wounded.

Meredith had won a first over battle with Perth opener Liam Livingstone, giving the Englishman a send-off after rattling his stumps having gone for boundaries the two balls before.

But he noticeably grimaced in his second over and was soon clutching his side. He got through the over but was soon spotted on the bench with an ice pack strapped to his side.

Sat next to him was South Africa import David Miller, who was rested from fielding after experiencing calf tightness while batting.

It remains to be seen what the prognosis is for either player, but it's a worry for the Hurricanes who have already lost James Faulkner to a calf injury.

The consolation act: The Scorchers looked dead and buried after falling three wickets down in the third over, but a vital partnership between Mitch Marsh and rising star Cameron Green gave them hope. That pair put on 75 together before Green was given out leg before.

Marsh powered on to a 36-ball 48 before he fell to a nice catch by Caleb Jewell in the deep, which effectively ended the Scorchers' hopes.

The late entertainment: It was too little too late for the Scorchers but Jhye Richardson showed he's got a power game, launching three massive sixes at the back end of the innings.

The Noise: Or, rather, the lack thereof. Perth Scorchers batsman Cameron Bancroft lamented the lack of atmosphere at Optus Stadium while mic'd up with Fox Cricket, with fans as much as the Scorchers still finding their feet at the new venue after years across the river at the WACA Ground.

Bancroft revealed the Scorchers had switched dressing rooms at the venues in a bid to switch up their fortunes. It was a move inspired by former Scorchers head coach Justin Langer during his tenure with the Australia team who, Bancroft revealed, had refused to sit in a dressing room that is occupied by the Fremantle Dockers Australian Rules football club during the winter months.

Langer is a board member of the West Coast Eagles, the other Perth-based Australian Rules club.

The next stop: The Scorchers have a travel day as they fly to Melbourne before a road trip down to Geelong where they will play the bottom-placed Melbourne Renegades on Tuesday evening. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are across the country for their next engagement, a meeting with the resurgent Brisbane Heat at the Gabba, but they at least have until Thursday, January 9, before they play again. They will likely have Matthew Wade back by then, but the flip side is D'Arcy Short will be in India with the Australia ODI team.

Perth Scorchers XI: Liam Livingstone, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Bancroft, Mitchell Marsh (c), Cameron Green, Tim David, Ashton Agar, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Kelly, Fawad Ahmed.

Hobart Hurricanes XI: D'Arcy Short, Simon Milenko, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott (c/wk), David Miller, George Bailey, Tom Rogers, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Qais Ahmad, Riley Meredith