Villani helps Hurricanes open their account in eight-over dash

Captain Elyse Villani powered Hobart Hurricanes to their first win of the WBBL season with an upset over defending champions Adelaide Strikers in a truncated match at a bleak Allan Border Field.

Restricted to an eight overs per side contest, Villani bludgeoned an unbeaten 39 from 24 balls as Hurricanes chased down the target of 75 with an over to spare.

It was an impressive bounce back from Hurricanes, who suffered two big losses against Perth Scorchers to start the season.

Strikers were left to rue Danielle Gibson dropping Villani with a regulation chance at midwicket on the second ball of the innings. Villani made them pay instantly with a couple of boundaries off legspinner Anesu Mushangwe.

It wasn't long before opener Lizelle Lee found her range with a trio of sixes in the space of four deliveries. Her purple patch ended when Lee was bowled by offspinner Georgia Adams, but Villani was in command as Hurricanes inched closer.

They lost Bryony Smith and Heather Graham, but consecutive boundaries off thick outside edges from Ruth Johnston got the Hurricanes over the line.

There were fears of a washout with rain persistent throughout the day in Brisbane, but the match finally got underway almost two hours after schedule.

Hurricanes elected to bowl in the gloomy conditions and were confronted by an aggressive Katie Mack, who was looking to bludgeon almost every delivery to the boundary.

She succeeded in whacking offspinner Molly Strano for successive boundaries in the opening over, but it wasn't easy with the ball coming off the wicket slowly and the outfield wet.

Hurricanes started disastrously when legspinner Amy Smith dropped a return catch when opener Laura Wolvaardt was on six. After a slow start, tied down by Smith's looping leg breaks, Wolvaardt smashed a six over deep midwicket to ignite Strikers.

After struggling to hit boundaries square of the wicket, the openers sought an inventive approach with Wolvaardt clearing her leg to conjure several effective slogs as they plundered 26 runs across the fifth and sixth overs.

Just when Strikers had the momentum, they were shackled at the death with quick Shabnim Ismail cleverly changing her pace and bowling into the wicket. A desperate Strikers went for broke with Mack run-out after turning back for an unlikely second run.

They finished on a high with a Wolvaardt boundary but the total ultimately was not enough, with the last two overs bringing just 15, as Strikers' title defence has started with two defeats from their opening four games.