Mitchell Owen leads Hobart Hurricanes to maiden BBL title

The Hobart Hurricanes defeated the Sydney Thunder to win their maiden BBL title on Monday night, with a blistering century by Mitchell Owen powering the hosts to a seven-wicket victory at Bellerive Oval.

Heading into the final match of BBL 14 as $2.25 underdogs across most T20 betting sites, Sydney put together a strong effort after being put in to bat.

Openers Jason Sangha (67 from 42) and David Warner (48 from 32) both saw the ball well, taking the Thunder through to 0/97 at the midway point of the innings.

When Warner and Matthew Gilkes (0 from 1) fell in consecutive balls, the visitors’ momentum slowed somewhat.

Still, healthy contributions from Sam Billings (20 from 14), Oliver Davies (26 from 19) and Chris Green (16 from 9) in the middle order kept the scoreboard ticking over.

A strong fightback by the Hobart bowlers limited the damage, however, with just 22 runs coming from the final three overs as Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis finished on three wickets each.

With the Hurricanes set a target of 183 to lift the Big Bash League trophy for the first time, live betting odds were in the balance.

But they quickly swung towards the home side as opener Owen played the innings of his life to propel Hobart into triple figures after just 37 balls.

While Caleb Jewell (13 from 12) and then Nikhil Chaudhary (1 from 2) fell at the other end, Owen raced to a record-equalling century from 39 balls, eventually falling for 108 from 42.

By the time Owen walked off the park, only 44 runs were needed with 9.3 overs remaining.

Ben McDermott (18 from 12) and Matthew Wade (32 from 17) wasted no time, hauling in the target with 35 balls remaining has the ‘Canes posted 3/185 from 14.1 overs.

“Amazing feeling, kind of lost for words,” Owen said after his player-of-the-match display.

“Super grateful for the fans, you’ve been great, so loud; really got us going out there.

“First three or four boundaries feel like a long time ago to be honest.

“I tried to do what I did all season — get us off to a good start and take it easy up through the middle and it worked out.”

Captain Ellis echoed his words from earlier in the week, emphasising how a team effort was key to the Hurricanes’ first title.

“Everyone’s stood up at some point, lucky to have this group,” he said.

“I’m in awe of all you guys. Very proud.

“We played bloody brilliant cricket and deserve the win.

“Pretty surreal at the moment.”

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