The Hurricanes are waiting to find out where they will finish on the BBL|15 ladder after failing to lock in a top-two spot on Wednesday
Hobart Hurricanes are dismayed but not dispirited after losing a game where they believed they had their opponents “dead and buried”.
The defending champions needed just six in the final over on Wednesday but ultimately fell short by three runs as Brisbane Heat’s Zaman Khan delivered a final over for the ages.
The defeat leaves the Hurricanes, who have completed their round-robin games, at a risk of dropping out of the top two and losing a double chance in the finals.
But Riley Meredith says the team’s confidence is not shaken ahead of the finals and they will be ready for whatever challenge is thrown at them in the business end of KFC BBL|15.
“It’s definitely not all doom and gloom,” Meredith told reporters in Hobart on Thursday.
“Ninety-five per cent of the game was outstanding, and we were all over them.
“We’re still top of the ladder and we’re still in the finals.
“Hopefully, we get a home final still, but if it’s not, that’s fine. We’ll go away and we’ll play some good cricket.”
The Hurricanes were commendable in their effort to restrict the experienced Heat line-up to 160 in batting-friendly conditions at Ninja Stadium, where they had allowed Perth Scorchers to post 229 just a fortnight ago.
Meredith led the charge with his three wickets as the bowling unit kept the pressure on even when Chris Jordan had to leave the field with an ankle issue after delivering three economical overs.
Test-returnee Beau Webster and Ben McDermott then had the home side in the box seat with their half-centuries after the loss of two early wickets, leaving the middle order with a straightforward task of scoring 25 in the last four overs after both had departed.
But a double strike from Xavier Bartlett in the penultimate over opened the door for an unlikely Heat victory that would ultimately be sealed by the heroics of their Pakistani import Zaman Khan.
Meredith admits his side’s batting group lost the way in the final five overs of the chase but backed them to bounce back in the finals.
“They (Hurricanes batters) have been phenomenal all year,” he said. “They’ve probably been saving our bacon all year.
“We pretty much had the game dead and buried.
“I think a lot of the batters will be disappointed that they weren’t there to guide the boys home in the end.”
The fast bowler believes the narrow defeat on the eve of the finals could help guide them to the right results in the knockout games to come, pointing to the fact they lost their final game of the home-and-away campaign last season before going on to win the club’s maiden Big Bash title.
For now, where they finish on the ladder is beyond their control as they wait for the other teams in contention to play out their games.
Their hopes to once again host two finals games in Hobart by finishing on top rest on Melbourne Renegades upsetting the third-placed Scorchers on Thursday evening.
Meredith is hopeful Caleb Jewell, the Tasmanian in the Melbourne side, can do his former team a favour.
“If the Renegades get up, that’d be a big one for us,” he said.
“Hopefully, Caleb Jewell can string a few runs together and get them home.
“But whatever happens now, it’s out of our hands, so we’ll play it as it comes.”
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
HUR
10
6
3
0
1
0.331
0
13
2
STA
9
6
3
0
0
1.031
0
12
3
SCO
8
5
3
0
0
1.162
0
10
4
HEA
9
5
4
0
0
-0.375
0
10
5
SIX
8
4
3
0
1
0.458
0
9
6
STR
9
3
6
0
0
-0.625
0
6
7
REN
8
3
5
0
0
-0.686
0
6
8
THU
9
2
7
0
0
-1.182
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
