Five Games, No Wins, Two Last-Over Heartbreaks: Can Nicola Carey Drag the Hurricanes Past the Heat at Bellerive?

There is no gentle way to say it: the Hurricanes have played five and lost five. They lost to the Stars by 18 runs on the opening weekend, chasing 193, and then to the Sixers by 87, when Ash Gardner made a century and Hobart were bowled out for 109. Since then the margins have shrunk. The Renegades beat them here with one ball to spare. The Heat beat them by four wickets in Brisbane. And on Tuesday night at Bellerive, the Strikers needed the very last ball to chase 139. A side that loses like that is closer than the table says, but the table is what counts, and the Hurricanes are bottom with a net run rate of -1.250.

Nicola Carey has been the one constant. She has 161 runs from four innings, including 62 against the Renegades and 66 not out off 53 on Tuesday, and six wickets with the ball. The worry is at the top. Lizelle Lee made 57 off 33 on the opening night and has 32 runs in four innings since. Chamari Athapaththu has not yet passed ten, and on Tuesday she made 10 off 26 balls, which may have cost Hobart the game as much as anything at the end. If one of those two gets going, the Hurricanes look a very different side.

The bowling has kept them in games. Heather Graham has eight wickets, and on Tuesday she, Molly Strano and Lauren Smith took the Strikers to the final ball of the chase. A possible XI, based on Tuesday's side: Lee, Athapaththu, Rachel Trenaman, Carey, Graham, Chinelle Henry, Maddy Green, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Strano, Smith, Isabella Malgioglio. After five defeats the Hurricanes may think about changing the top order, but that is only a guess.

The Heat lost their first two games, off the last ball against the Sixers and by six wickets to the Thunder. Then they beat the Strikers by 14 runs and the Hurricanes by four wickets, and they play the Stars at Junction Oval on Thursday before they travel to Hobart. Going into that game they were fourth, on four points from four.

Charli Knott is the story of their season. She has 183 runs, with 57 against the Sixers and 104 off 61 balls against the Strikers. Georgia Redmayne made two fifties in the first two games, and Grace Harris hit 58 off 37 against the Thunder. In the game against Hobart a week ago, the top order did not fire, and it was Amelia O'Neil, with 32 not out off 28, who saw them home with ten balls left.

That game was won with the ball. Lucy Bassingthwaighte took 3 for 16 and Lucy Hamilton 3 for 24, Orla Prendergast 2 for 14, and the Hurricanes were held to 116 for 9. Sarah Glenn has given away only 98 runs in 15 overs this season. A possible XI, based on that side: Knott, Harris, Yastika Bhatia, Prendergast, Redmayne, Hamilton, O'Neil, Sianna Ginger, Glenn, Bassingthwaighte, Courtney White. Thursday's game against the Stars may change things, so treat this as a likely side, not a certain one.

Table as of Thursday morning, November 12; the Thursday and Friday games may change the positions.

Bellerive has hosted two games this season, and both have been close, low-to-middling affairs: 154 for 7 chased down with a ball to spare, then 138 for 5 chased down off the last ball. The pitch seems to have been a little slow, and neither side has found it easy to score quickly through the middle overs. With a 3:40 PM start, the first innings is played in the warmest part of the day, and the evening breeze off the Derwent may help the seamers later on. The side batting second has won both games here, so a captain who wins the toss may well choose to chase. Around 150 may be a par score.

Lee and Athapaththu against Bassingthwaighte and Hamilton in the first six overs. A week ago the Hurricanes' top three made 11 runs between them, and the innings never recovered. If the openers can get through the powerplay, Carey at four becomes the key, and Glenn's four overs against her in the middle may be where the game turns. At the other end, Knott against Strano and Graham is the big one. Knott likes to go hard early, and Hobart's best chance may be to take her wicket before the field spreads.