Hurricanes left to ponder what could have been
The defeat to Brisbane Heat knocked the stuffing out of the defending champion's title defence
AAP
24-Jan-2026 • 10 hrs ago
Ben McDermott led the side in the absence of Nathan Ellis • Cricket Australia via Getty Images
Nathan Ellis' hamstring injury and a pivotal regular-season loss have left Hobart Hurricanes to ponder what might have been after the Sydney Sixers dashed their dream of back-to-back BBL titles.
Steven Smith and Joel Davies were the key men as he Sixers powered past the champions and into the final against Perth Scorchers with a 57-run win at the SCG on Friday.
Hurricanes were all out for 141 in the Challenger final, with a 48-run stand between Ben McDermott and Beau Webster the sole partnership of significance.
"We haven't really nailed it with the bat all season," said stand-in captain McDermott. "It's probably one of those nights where we were due to bail our bowlers out of the crap, so to speak. But not our night."
Ellis had a scan on Friday morning and was subsequently ruled out of the Hurricanes' BBL finals tilt to rest for the T20 World Cup.
McDermott admitted Ellis's absence had a "huge" bearing on the result at the SCG, after the paceman also missed Wednesday's Knockout defeat of the Melbourne Stars.
"Death bowling wins you tournaments and when you lose one of the best in the world, in my opinion, it's going to hurt," McDermott said.
Ellis's absence was felt most keenly as the Hurricanes struggled for answers while bowling to Smith, who again top-scored with 65.
Hurricanes were down another bowling option as they played Chris Jordan, despite an ankle issue preventing him from sending down any overs. McDermott said that, in hindsight, they might have played batter Mac Wright.
"But Chris has finished games before, he's got the power game. He can clear the ropes. I think it was the right call," he added.
The defining moment in Hurricanes' season was their three-run loss to Brisbane Heat in their final match of the regular season. A win against eventual bottom-four side Heat would have confirmed top spot for Hurricanes and a chance to progress straight to the decider by winning a home qualifying final.
Instead, Hurricanes were made to play two sudden-death games in three days, the second of those on the road against Sixers.
"That Brisbane Heat game is always to be a talking point, no matter what happened in our season from there, whether we went on to win it or we bow out in the semi," McDermott said. "You can always look back on that and go, 'We probably should have had a home qualifier'."