Hales helps extend Thunder's BBL streak
Import Alex Hales hit an unbeaten 80 off 56 balls as Sydney Thunder extended their winning run of the Big Bash League to six games.
The Thunder registered a nine-wicket win over the Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG on Monday as they chased down their target of 140 runs with 16 balls to spare.
Hales, who has posted back-to-back BBL half-centuries, shared a 106-run partnership with stand-in skipper Jason Sangha (35 off 31 balls) to iron the bulk of the total.
The 33-year-old measured early but opened late, hitting a straight six off fast bowler Riley Meredith to register his highest score of the tournament.
Hales' last 30 runs came off just 12 balls.
He told Fox Cricket, "I finally got there. The first 20 or 30 balls were hard work, I thought he bowled really well. It was a tough pitch to figure out your timing."
"We tried to take it as deep as we could and cash-in on the boom, and luckily we did."
Sydney remains second on the ladder, while the Hurricanes are fourth with six losses and five wins.
"We're really confident as a team. I think we're improving game by game," Hales said.
"The bowlers have been excellent for the last six wins. It's been a good team effort so far and every batsman is also in form, which as a team is a good place to be."
The Thunder damaged the ball with Nathan McAndrew (2-31) and Gurinder Sandhu (2-32) stopping the Hurricanes 6-139.
McAndrew claimed the big skull of in-form Hurricanes opener Ben McDermott (38 off 34 balls) in the 10th over after he cheaply dismissed Caleb Jewel inside the powerplay.
The Hurricanes were struggling to get out of second gear and went without a boundary for 42 balls in the middle overs.
Hobart made life difficult for himself, capitalizing on several tough times during the Thunder Chase.
D'Arcy Short (29 off 24 balls) showed glimpses of his best in Hobart's innings with three consecutive fours, batting in the unfamiliar position of No.
Young legspinner Tanveer Sangha scored 1-22 for the Thunder, including the wicket of Peter Handscomb (22 off 25 balls), who was stumped.
Hobart will be sweating the return of captain Matthew Wade, who has missed the last two games on an indefinite leave due to personal reasons.
Storm and Thunder reunite on Thursday at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
