Thunder smother Hurricanes to reclaim top spot

The match in a tweet: Thunder seize top spot on #BBL10 ladder, suffocating Hurricanes with another even team performance in the west

The scores: Sydney Thunder 5-167 (Khawaja 49, Ross 44*, Cutting 31*; Short 3-26) defeated the Hobart Hurricanes 8-128 (Handscomb 30) by 39 runs at Optus Stadium

The points: Hurricanes 1, Thunder 3

The heroes: At 5-110, the Thunder were in stormy waters when Ben Cutting joined Alex Ross in the middle with key allrounder Daniel Sams missing due to concussion.

But the hard-hitting pair combined for an unbroken 57-run stand that proved decisive, building on Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja's 59-run opening partnership.

Ross, back in the side after a groin injury earlier in the tournament saw him give up his spot to wonderkid Ollie Davies, pumped three sixes while Cutting spanked 31 from just 14 balls.

Their fruitful stand came after the Thunder had lost 5-59 in a middle-over slump to squander the strong start given to them by Hales and Khawaja belting 48 from the four Powerplay overs.

The performance was typical of the Thunder this season, with the side again relying on across-the-board contributions rather than individual brilliance.

The support cast: Nathan McAndrew may slide under the radar of most BBL fans but the slippery right-arm quick has made some handy contributions in recent weeks.

His dismissals of Hurricanes openers Ben McDermott and D'Arcy Short in the same over may be his most important.

Bowling with brisk pace, McAndrew hurried Short on a pull shot to have him caught in the ring before trapping the tournament's leading run scorer McDermott lbw.

The Hurricanes recovered to snag the Bash Boost point as Peter Handscomb and Dawid Malan threatened to reel in the Thunder.

But Sydney’s spin brigade of Tanveer Sangha (2-29, including a ripping leg-break to remove Handscomb), Chris Green (2-23) and Arjun Nair (1-19) in his first game of the tournament then ran through the middle and lower order as the required run-rate mounted.

The consolation act: Short's bowling has run hot and cold this BBL season, having gone wicketless in all but one previous game coming into Thursday evening.

In his hometown Perth on a pitch that usually favours the quicks, the left-arm wrist-spinner was hot, removing three of the Thunder's top order and putting the brakes on after Hales and Khawaja had gotten their side off to a flyer.

Short dismissed both openers and also removed dangerman Sam Billings, troubling Sydney's batters by spinning the ball both ways and finishing with a tidy haul of 3-26.

The late scratching: On a bouncy Optus Stadium pitch the Hurricanes sorely missed the extra pace of Riley Meredith, who suffered a side strain after the bat flip and the Thunder permitted Nick Winter to replace him in the XI.

The Hurricanes will be sweating on the severity of the injury, especially after Meredith coincidentally suffered a side injury at this same venue a year and two days ago which ruled out for the second half of BBL|09.

Winter, a left-arm swing bowler, went wicketless from his three overs on his Hurricanes debut.

The run out: Nathan Ellis just continues to impress, pulling off this outstanding run out off his own bowling in addition to admirably taking on the death-bowling load for the Hurricanes.

The next stop: Both teams face the Perth Scorchers next. The Thunder, who will again be without Sams coach Shane Bond confirmed, are back in action at the same venue in two days' time, while the Hurricanes will also remain in the west where they play again on Tuesday.

Hobart Hurricanes XI: D'Arcy Short, Ben McDermott (wk), Dawid Malan, Peter Handscomb (c), Colin Ingram, Tim David, Johan Botha, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Nick Winter, Sandeep Lamichhane

Sydney Thunder XI: Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (c), Sam Billings (wk), Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green, Arjun Nair, Adam Milne, Tanveer Sangha