Bash Boost and Power Surge used for first time as Big Bash season with new innovations begins; Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes opt against using X-Factor substitute in opener; Hurricanes triumph as James Vince's fifty comes in vain for defending champions Sixers
Thursday 10 December 2020 13:41, UK
England's James Vince struck 67 from 41 balls in a losing cause for Sydney Sixers against Hobart Hurricanes as a Big Bash season with new innovations began.
Three new regulations have come into effect for the 2020-21 edition of Australia's domestic T20 tournament - X-Factor substitutes, Bash Boost and Power Surge.
The X-Factor rule stipulates that sides can replace one player in their side with another at the 10-over mark of the first innings, as long as the departing player has not batted or bowled more than one over.
Yet, both defending champions Sixers and Hurricanes opted to stick with their initial XIs at Bellerive Oval in a game Hurricanes won by 16 runs.
Hampshire batsman Vince - capped 41 times by England across the Test, ODI and T20I formats - hit eight fours and two sixes for Sixers to help his side to 118-1 in the 14th over in their pursuit of 179 for victory.
However, he was then out lbw to James Faulkner, triggering a collapse of five wickets for 37 runs, and Sixers finished short on 162-6.
Hurricanes had powered their way to 178-8 after being 4-2 in the second over, with Glamorgan's Colin Ingram striking 55 from 42 balls, Tim David nailing 58 from 33 deliveries - and the side using the Power Surge innovation to great effect.
Power Surge sees the traditional six-over powerplay at the start of an innings reduced to four, with the remaining two overs of fielding restrictions enforced by the batting side at any point after the 10th over.
Hurricanes took the Power Surge after 14 overs when they were 96-4 and proceeded to take Sixers spinner Steve O'Keefe's 15th over for 19, with David striking three consecutive fours to kick off the over and Ingram managing another four fifth ball.
The third innovation, Bash Boost, sees the side who are ahead at the 10-over mark of the run chase given an extra point and Sixers claimed that on this occasion having been 85-1 compared to Hurricanes' 72-3.
That bonus point was earned amid a 116-run second-wicket stand between Vince and Jack Edwards (47 off 39).
Sixers took their Power Surge in overs 12 and 13, with Vince striking a six over cover to begin the two overs of fielding restrictions and then a straight four to complete them.
However, Vince's side may have been hoping for more than the 18 runs accrued in those two overs and their hopes took a big hit when the Englishman was out on the sweep in the following over.
The innings subsequently disintegrated as Hurricanes bowled superbly at the death and picked up the three-point haul for an outright win, with Sixers having to be content with the one point they acquired from the Bash Boost stipulation.
Surrey's Will Jacks was the second Englishman on show but he did now make the impact Vince did, having been dismissed for a duck second ball while opening for Hurricanes and then seeing his spin bowling go unused by Hobart captain Peter Handscomb.
Jack' Surrey team-mate, England seamer Tom Curran, was due to play for Sixers in the Big Bash this season but pulled out due to bubble fatigue, with the Sydney-based side signing Nottinghamshire paceman Jake Ball as a replacement.
