‘Absolute beauty’: Star’s cracking pill causes headache as Thunder set strong total — BBL LIVE
The Sydney Thunder are in the box seat at the halfway mark, setting the Hobart Hurricanes a score of 181 to win.
Hobart pacer Chris Jordan provided the highlight of the innings, delivering an “absolute beauty” of a ball to dismiss Sam Billings.
MATCH CENTRE: Hurricanes v Thunder, scores, stats
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Hitting the pitch on off, the ball jagged back sharply and beat the bat of Billings to knock over his middle stump.
“That’s an absolute beauty! What a ball. That would knock over many good players all over the world,” Mike Hussey said on Fox League.
Earlier, swashbuckling young gun Sam Konstas played some beautiful shots and looked dangerous em route to 28.
Cam Bancroft was the pick of the Thunder batters, scoring a crucial 61.
Konstas out after 28 | 00:33
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MATCH PREVIEW
The excitement machine that is Sam Konstas and his Sydney Thunder teammates will kick off their 2025-2026 BBL campaign with a grand final rematch against the Hobart Hurricanes.
The Thunder will be keen to atone for the seven wicket defeat in last year’s decider to the Hurricanes.
In a big blow for Sydney, captain David Warner is out, but is expected to be back on deck for Saturday’s Sydney Smash against the Sixers. Chris Green will captain the Thunder tonight.
“It’s obviously not ideal to not have Davey but we’d rather be careful earlier in the tournament. I’m confident he’ll be right for our biggest game of the year on Saturday,” Thunder general manager Trent Copeland said.
The Thunder will still pack a punch at the top of the order with Konstas, who burst onto the Australian cricketing scene 12 months ago.
Konstas scored a dazzling 50 in his BBL debut last summer almost a year ago to the day.
The young gun comes here in good form having just hit a century against Queensland in a Sheffield Shield match.
Hobart will be out to start their title defence on the right note and not only replicate last season, but replicate the deeds of the women’s side, who lifted the WBBL11 trophy over the weekend.
The first ball is set to be bowled at 7:15 AEDT.
