Paine was named Man of the Match for his magnificent knock of 55
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Half-centuries from Tim Paine and Ben Dunk ensured that the Hobart Hurricanes cruised the past Brisbane Heat by six wickets at the Bellerive Oval.
However, the Heat’s opening duo of Jimmy Peirson and Peter Forrest both deserve a lot of credit as well as they scored 57 and 62 respectively.
Hurricanes captain George Bailey would have been brooding over his decision to bowl first after Peirson and Forrest amassed a 119-run partnership, during which both batsmen brought up their half-centuries, before Peirson was clean bowled by Darren Sammy.
Peirson’s fantastic knock of 57 came off 35 balls and included six boundaries and two sixes.
Peirson scored a valiant 57
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Forrest went on to score 62 off 43 deliveries, which included seven boundaries and a six, before he was caught by Xavier Doherty off the bowling of debutant Jake Reed.
Forrest made a gutsy 62
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Daniel Christian just took nine balls to score 34 runs before he was stumped by Paine off the bowling of Cameron Boyce.
Chris Lynn managed to make 27 runs before he was caught by Jonathan Wells at wide long-on off the bowling of Boyce.
Boyce struck again the very next ball when Nathan Reardon was caught by Sammy at deep square leg for one run.
Ben Cutting managed to make a quickfire 19 before he was caught by Boyce at long-off off the bowling of Joe Mennie.
Thanks to Peirson and Forrest, the Heat finished on 208/6 off their 20 overs.
Boyce was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Sammy, Reed and Mennie chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 209 to win, the Hurricanes got off to a superb start as Paine and Dunk put together a 120-run partnership, during which both batsmen registered their half-centuries, before Paine was caught by Daniel Vettori at point off the bowling of Jason Floros.
Paine’s excellent knock of 55 came off 25 balls and included six boundaries and three sixes.
Dunk ended up making 67 off 40 deliveries, which included eight boundaries and two sixes, before he was caught by Cutting at deep midwicket off the bowling of Floros.
Dunk hammered eight boundaries and two sixes during his innings of 67
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Travis Birt only made 11 runs before he was caught by Christian at long-off off the bowling of Ryan Duffield.
England batsman Alex Hales smashed a rapid 34 before he was caught by Christian at long-on off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff.
Bailey and Sammy accumulated an unbeaten 30-run partnership to lead the Hurricanes to victory with one over to spare.
Bailey scored 28 off 12 balls, which included three boundaries and a six, while Sammy remained undefeated on one.
Floros was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Duffield and Flintoff claimed one wicket each.
Paine edged out Dunk for the Man of the Match award.