Owens equals fastest BBL century, Hurricanes beat Thunder

HOBART: The Hobart Hurricanes dominated the Sydney Thunder on Monday, winning the finals of the Big Bash League (BBL). It was all thanks to an incredible knock by Mitchell Owens, in which he tied the record for fastest century in the league.

After the Sydney Thunder scored 182 runs, losing seven wickets, courtesy of Riley Meredith and Cameron Gannon, who took three each, the Hurricanes began to bat.

Mitchell Owens opened for Hobart, and began to dominate immediately. He scored 14 runs off a six and two fours on consecutive deliveries in the first over. It looked like batting practice out there for Owens, as he hit two more boundaries in the next over, and four in the third, including three sixes.

In the fourth over, Owens completed the third fastest 50 in the history of the BBL, and the fastest ever in a final. He did it in style, slicing a shot over short third for four. Owens then hit another six over deep cover-point, as his domineering batting showed no signs of slowing.

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Owen’s assault continued as a few of his teammates fell around him. Caleb Jewell was dismissed in the eight over on a delivery from Tanveer Sangha that the Hurricanes’ batter pulled straight to David Warner at mid-wicket. Jewell made 13 runs off the 12 deliveries he faced.

A couple balls later, Sangha took his second wicket, dismissing Nikhil Chaudhary who had just taken to the field. Chaudhary was dismissed on the second ball he faced, only managing to score a single run.

The boundaries continued to fall for the Hurricanes, and Owen brought up his century in the 10^th over. He tied Craig Simmons record for the fastest century in the BBL, as he completed his ton on the 39^th ball he faced. Owens celebrated in similar fashion to his earlier 50, hitting a six off the very next ball.

On the second ball of the next over, Owen was sent off on a delivery from Tom Andrews that was caught by HD Weibgen.

“Pretty special, 44 runs left. That’s all I care about right now,” said Owen as he left the field. During his 108 run knock, he hit 11 sixes, and six fours.

Ben McDermott and Matthew Wade brought the victory home, as the two scored 18 and 32 runs respectively.

It only took 14.1 overs for the Hobart Hurricanes to win their first ever BBL title.

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