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Raipur: Hobart Hurricanes put up a fine all-round show to thump Northern Knights by a massive margin of 86 runn in Group B game at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on Tuesday.
The rivalry brought best out of the Australian team as they bowled out Knights for 92 in 16.4 overs after posting a challenging 178 for 3 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Chasing a stiff target in such conditions, Knights needed a solid start but pacer Joe Mennie and Ben Hilfenhaus had other plans.
Hilfenhaus, in particular, was in ominous form as he got rid of Kane Williamson and Daniel Flynn in successive balls in the third over after Mennie provided the breakthrough by sending back opener Anton Devcich. With three wickets gone for just five runs on the board, Knights needed something out of the bolt.
However, that did not happen as they were soon down to 63 for 6 in the 14th over with none of the top-five batsmen managing to get into double digits.
Had it not been for New Zealand's old dog Scott Styris' 27-ball 37, the Kiwi side were staring at further embarrassment. Hilfenhaus easily was the best bowler of the night as he returned with figures of 4-0-14-3 and was equally helped by Doug Bollinger, who also bagged three wickets. A late order counter-attack by Tim Southee (21 off 12 balls) just delayed the inevitable for Knights.
Earlier, Hurricanes captain Tim Paine, who managed just 18 runs in his previous two games in the tournament, bought his time at the crease early on. Paine and Blizzard added 47 runs for the second-wicket to give Hurricanes some move on but just when it looked that the pair was well set, the Indian-origin spinner Ish Sodhi struck to remove the skipper in the 11th over. Hurricanes captain scored 43 off 34 balls.
From there on, the onus moved to the experienced duo of Blizzard and Shoaib Malik. Blizzard, who had scored 78 in his previous match against Cobras, used his form to good effect and rotated strike at will. Malik on the other end was more dominating in the partnership.
Despite being hit for a four and a six on the last two balls of his spell, Styris conceded just 28 runs in his four overs.
Earlier, Northern Knights have won the toss and opted to field.
One change for Nights -- Jono Boult comes in for Mitchell Santer, while Hobart Hurricanes unchanged.
Teams
Hobart Hurricanes: Tim Paine (Capt. & wk), Ben Dunk, Aiden Blizzard, Shoaib Malik, Jonathan Wells, Travis Birt, Joe Mennie, Ben Hilfenhaus, Xavier Doherty, Ben Laughlin, Doug Bollinger
Northern Knights: Kane Williamson, Anton Devcich, Daniel Flynn (Capt.), BJ Watling (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Scott Styris, Jono Boult, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Brief scores
Hobart Hurricanes - 178/3 (Blizzard 62, Malik 45*, Paine 43)
Northern Knights - 92 (Styris 37, Hilfenhaus 3-14, Bollinger 3-22)
Result - Hobart Hurricanes won by 86 runs
Points - Hobart Hurricanes 4, Northern Knights 0
MOM - Ben Hilfenhaus (Hobart Hurricanes)
