Nikhil Chaduhary's explosive 79 off 38 still was not enough to earn him player-of-the-match honours. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)
In short:
Hobart star Nikhil Chaudhary launched a six onto the roof of Kardinia Park in Geelong as the Hurricanes easily beat the Melbourne Renegades by seven wickets.
Chaudhary finished with 79 off 38 as the visitors completed the chase in just 13.5 overs, but teammate Chris Jordan was player of the match.
Englishman Jordan started the game by bowling the first maiden of the BBL season, and finished with his best figures of 4-19 to restrict the Renegades to 9-145.
Nikhil Chaudhary has launched a six onto the roof of Geelong's Kardinia Park as the Hobart Hurricanes powered to a cruisy victory over the Melbourne Renegades.
Chaudhary (79 off 38) and Chris Jordan (4-19) produced their best BBL games in the seven-wicket mauling of the Renegades.
The victory, completed with 37 balls to spare, took the defending champions to the top of the ladder.
After winning the toss and restricting the Renegades to 9-145 in damp conditions, the Hurricanes cruised to 3-149 in just 13.5 overs as Chaudhary plundered his highest BBL score.
It featured seven fours and four sixes — one of which, off the bowling of Gurinder Sandhu, sailed onto the roof of the Reg Hickey Stand at square leg.
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Ben McDermott (49 off 33) finished off the game with a six and scored 49 from 33, featuring two fours and four sixes.
He and Chaudhary put on 93 for the third wicket as the Hurricanes bounced back from last week's loss to the Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
Despite the batting fireworks, Jordan was named player of the match after his stingy bowling helped restrict the Renegades to 9-145 from their 20 overs, remarkably starting with the first maiden of the BBL season.
He recorded his best figures from 56 BBL games, but fell just short of his first five-wicket haul in his 422nd T20 outing.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hunting the five," Jordan told Fox Sports.
Hobart shuffled its attack and Jordan bowled the first over, and started with nine straight dot balls, conceding only one boundary on the night.
"Somebody had to step and play a slightly different role. It was just nice, more importantly, as a team, to bounce back after the defeat a few days before," he said.
"You can lose games of cricket, but it was more some of our non-negotiables, like our efforts and attitudes in the field … it's nice to bounce back."
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