Hobart Hurricanes 165 for 4 (David 68*) beat Sydney Thunder 164 for 6 (Warner 88*) by six wickets
Hurricanes ran down Sydney’s 164 for 6 at Ninja Stadium on Friday night with 19 balls to spare, with David finishing unbeaten on 68 from 38 balls.
The 28-year-old played an almost identical hand in the Hurricanes’ win over Adelaide in their previous match with an unbeaten 62 from 28 deliveries.
The Hurricanes have won five matches in a row to stamp themselves as genuine title contenders with three games remaining before the finals. Hurricanes have missed the finals in the past two seasons and are one of two teams yet to lift the BBL silverware.
Thunder didn’t hit a boundary until the fifth over and grafted to 85 for 3 after 13. But they picked up the pace towards the back end, with Sam Billings contributing 28 from 15 balls.
Warner, who snapped his bat early on, looked more comfortable the longer he went and took the long handle to Ellis in a final over that went for 17 runs.
Young gun Sam Konstas failed to fire for Sydney after a whirlwind two Tests against India and was out for four from nine balls, gloving a short ball from Riley Meredith.
Openers Mitchell Owen (13 off six) and Matthew Wade (13 off five) got Hobart off to a flying start in the chase with the latter hitting George Garton out of the ground.
The Hurricanes lost three wickets to keep Sydney somewhat in the hunt before David and Chris Jordan (18no off 13) steered them home.
