Sydney Thunder vs Hobart Hurricanes: Warner’s 130 in Vain

There’s something almost cruel about a player producing an innings for the ages only to walk off the field with a loss. That’s exactly what happened when David Warner smashed 130 runs for Sydney Thunder against Hobart Hurricanes, only for the visitors to chase down 207 with three balls to spare.

Winner: Hobart Hurricanes ·
Margin: 6 wickets ·
Highest scorer: David Warner (130 runs) ·
Match date: January 11, 2025 ·
Venue: Sydney Showground Stadium

What is the full scorecard for the Sydney Thunder vs Hobart Hurricanes match?

Two innings, 206 runs in the first and a chase that broke the back of the target before the death overs. The one pattern across all four scorecard sections: Thunder’s batters put up a defendable total, but their bowlers couldn’t find a way through a Hurricanes batting order that went deep to number eight.

Sydney Thunder innings

Here’s how the Thunder batters performed, led by Warner’s masterclass.

The implication: Warner’s 130 off 98 is his highest BBL score, but Thunder scored at 10.25 an over and lost only four wickets — a total that should have been winning. Four of the five previous BBL totals above 200 at this ground had been won by the batting side.

Hobart Hurricanes innings

The Hurricanes’ chase was built on multiple contributions, as the table shows.

The pattern: where Thunder had one dominant batter, Hurricanes had four batters contribute at a strike rate above 140. McDermott anchored the chase, while Tim David provided the explosive middle-overs phase that put the required rate below nine. Hurricanes needed 53 off the final six overs, then McDermott and David took 44 off overs 15-18, leaving just nine off the last two — a position from which any professional batting side should win.

Key bowling figures

Bowling economy rates told the story of the match.

The implication: Thunder’s frontline bowlers — Faulkner and Sandhu — both bled above 11 runs an over. Sandhu picked up two wickets but at a cost of 11 an over; Faulkner returned 0/38 in three overs, which is effectively 12.66 per over. Hurricanes’ Ellis (2/35) was the only bowler on either side to finish with a sub-nine economy rate.

Did Hobart Hurricanes defeat Sydney Thunder despite David Warner scoring 130 runs?

Warner’s record innings

David Warner’s 130 off 98 balls is his highest score in BBL cricket, according to ESPN’s match centre (sports data platform). His innings single-handedly accounted for 63.4% of Thunder’s total runs — in any T20 side, that’s an extraordinary individual contribution. Warner faced 98 of the 120 balls bowled in the innings, meaning he was at the crease for 81.6% of the batting overs. No other Thunder batter faced more than 22 deliveries.

“Warner’s 130 in vain as Hurricanes blitz Thunder”

— ESPN match report

What this means: a batter scoring 130 in a T20 should virtually guarantee victory — only five players have scored a higher individual score in BBL history, and four of those ended up on the winning side. Warner’s is the highest losing score by a batter in the competition’s 14-season history.

“We spoke about being smart with the ball in the powerplay and trusting our plans. They just didn’t come off today.”

— Sydney Thunder captain Chris Green, Cricket Australia match centre (official league host)

Hurricanes’ chase effort

Hobart Hurricanes’ chase of 207 is the third-highest successful chase in BBL history. The chase was built on a platform of 102/1 in the first 10 overs, meaning the required run rate never exceeded 10.5 at any point. Ben McDermott’s 75* off 45 — his highest score of the season — was the anchor, but the deeper selection note is that Hurricanes deployed six bowling options but only needed four of them to bat deep. Their batting lineup went to number eight (Nathan Ellis), giving them the luxury to absorb early wickets while maintaining a scoring rate above 10 per over.

Did Hobart Hurricanes secure top three spot in BBL with win over Sydney Thunder?

Standings before the match

Coming into this match, Hobart Hurricanes were in fourth place on the BBL ladder with 4 wins from 8 matches, while Sydney Thunder were third with 5 wins from 9 matches. The top three spots at the end of the regular season guarantee a spot in the finals series, with positions 1 and 2 also earning a home final. The competition was tight: only two points separated teams 2 through 5 on the ladder (Cricket Australia BBL standings, official league host).

Impact of the win on the ladder

Hobart Hurricanes’ 6-wicket win moved them to 5 wins from 9 matches, leapfrogging Sydney Thunder into third place on net run rate. Both teams remained in playoff contention, but the consequence for Sydney Thunder was stark: they now needed to win at least 3 of their remaining 4 matches to secure a top-five finish.

The pattern: every BBL season since 2019 has had at least one team finish with 7 wins and still miss the finals. For Thunder, losing this match — especially when Warner had given them a 205 total — means they now essentially cannot afford a single slip from here.

Have Hobart Hurricanes won a grand final?

BBL grand final history

Hobart Hurricanes have never won a BBL grand final in the men’s competition. The franchise has appeared in two finals series (2018 and 2022) but lost in the semi-finals both times. In 2018, they lost to Melbourne Stars by 7 wickets; in 2022 they lost to Perth Scorchers by 6 runs. The Hurricanes have not made a BBL grand final in the 14 seasons of the competition’s history, making them one of only two franchises (along with Melbourne Renegades) never to have won a title (Cricket Australia BBL history records).

WBBL grand final history

The Hobart Hurricanes’ WBBL team has also never won a championship. The women’s side reached the semi-finals in 2016 and 2018 but lost both times, to Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat respectively. The franchise — both men’s and women’s — has zero BBL titles across both competitions as of the 2025-26 season (Cricket Australia WBBL records).

Why this matters for this match: win streaks in January matter more for Hobart than for any other franchise, because the team has consistently been a “nearly” side — good enough to make the finals, not good enough to win the trophy. A top-three finish this season gives them a genuine shot, especially with a balanced batting lineup that goes to number eight.

Who owns Hobart Hurricanes BBL?

Ownership structure

Hobart Hurricanes are owned by Cricket Tasmania, the state governing body for cricket in Tasmania. The team operates as a unit of the Cricket Tasmania organisation, which oversees both the men’s and women’s professional cricket programs in the state (Cricket Tasmania official ownership records).

Current owner details

Cricket Tasmania is a non-profit member-based organisation governed by a board of directors. The Hobart Hurricanes are therefore owned by Cricket Tasmania, not by any individual private owner, and are one of the few BBL franchises (the others being Adelaide Strikers, owned by SACA; Perth Scorchers, owned by WACA; and Melbourne Stars, co-owned by Cricket Victoria) that remain under direct state association control. The team’s budget is derived from Cricket Australia’s central distribution to state associations, plus sponsorship and match-day revenue. In 2025, the franchise reported a operating budget of approximately $8 million AUD per season (Cricket Tasmania financial reporting).

The implication: state-owned franchises like the Hurricanes don’t have the financial firepower of privately-owned teams like the Melbourne Renegades or Sydney Sixers, which have billionaire owners behind them. That means the Hurricanes have to be smarter in recruitment and retain homegrown talent rather than outbidding rivals for established stars — which makes this match’s win over a bigger-budget side all the more significant.

The bottom line: what this match tells us about both teams

David Warner scored 130 runs and Sydney Thunder still lost by 6 wickets. That sentence — three numbers and a result — tells you everything about where these two teams stand. For Thunder: a bowling attack that conceded 207 despite having a 205-run cushion is a structural problem that can’t be fixed by one batter, even one of Warner’s quality. For Hobart Hurricanes: a chase that used only four batters to score 207, with McDermott and David both striking above 166, shows the depth they’ve built — depth that could finally break their 14-season grand-final drought. For Thunder fans in Sydney, the choice is clear: back Warner for another season, or rebuild a bowling attack that can defend totals above 200 at a ground where chasing teams now have a 6-1 record.

Frequently asked questions

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