LIVE: Villani gives Hurricanes hope, Thunder chasing 127 in Knockout

Elyse Villani's unbeaten 49 has helped Hobart to 6-126, giving the Hurricanes a faint hope in their Weber WBBL Knockout final against the Sydney Thunder.

Dropped down the order and back to No.4, Villani starred with the bat at Drummoyne Oval on Thursday night to finish with 49 from 42 balls.

Thunder XI: Chamari Athapaththu, Georgia Voll, Phoebe Litchfield (c), Tahlia Wilson (wk), Anika Learoyd, Georgia Adams, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Hannah Darlington, Taneale Peschel, Shabnim Ismail, Sam Bates

 

Hurricanes XI: Ruth Johnston, Lizelle Lee (wk), Nicola Carey, Elyse Villani (c), Heather Graham, Suzie Bates, Kathryn Bryce, Molly Strano, Lauren Smith, Rosemary Mair, Amy Smith

Her innings gave the Hurricanes some hope of victory, with two scores of below 130 successfully defended in the WBBL this year.

Adding to the Hurricanes' hopes is that the Drummoyne wicket has proved difficult to bat on this summer, with lower scores becoming the norm.

The Hurricanes had looked in serious trouble at 4-47 at the halfway mark of their innings, with spinner Chamari Athapaththu (2-24) doing the damage.

She bowled Nicola Carey for one when the right-hander attempted to pull her, and then had Heather Graham caught at cover cutting on 10.

Taneale Peschel also got the key wicket of Lizelle Lee, bowling her for 23 after she had cut and pulled her way to 23.

But from there, Villani took over.

She produced the shot of the innings when she hooked Shabnim Ismail for six, while dispatching the Thunder's bowlers for five other boundaries.

WBBL|10 Finals

The Knockout: Sydney Thunder v Hobart Hurricanes | Drummoyne Oval | Wednesday, November 27 at 7.15pm AEDT

The Challenger: Brisbane Heat v TBC | Allan Border Field | Friday, November 29 at 7.15pm AEDT, 6.15pm AEDT

The Final: Melbourne Renegades v TBC | MCG | Sunday, December 1 at 1.20pm AEDT

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