Strikers chase 139 off the last ball as the Hurricanes stay winless in Hobart

Adelaide Strikers took four runs from the last ball at Bellerive Oval to chase down 139 and leave Hobart Hurricanes without a win in five attempts

Nicola Carey carried her side to 138 for 6 with an unbeaten 66, then watched the Strikers reach 139 for 6 off the final delivery of the 20th over to win by four wickets.

Tahlia McGrath had sent the Hurricanes in under lights at Bellerive Oval, and her bowlers kept the hosts to a total that never looked beyond the visitors.

The result leaves the defending champions still searching for their first points of WBBL|12, with their captain again the only Hurricanes batter to pass 20.

Carey holds a stuttering innings together

Hobart lost Lizelle Lee lbw to Sophie Ecclestone for 19 from 18 balls in the fourth over, and Rachel Trenaman went for 9 from 5, caught and bowled by Madeline Penna three balls into the fifth.

Chamari Athapaththu never found her timing and was retired out for 10 from 26 balls with the score 66 for 3 in the 12th over.

That left Carey to rebuild and then accelerate. Her 66 not out from 53 balls contained nine fours and was the innings that took Hobart to a defendable score.

Ecclestone finished with 1-37 from her four overs and Penna took 1-14, while Ella Wilson conceded only 12 from four.

Two run-outs cost the hosts

Heather Graham was run out for 14 from 13 balls at 107 for 4 in the 18th over, Megan Schutt and Penna combining in the field.

Chinelle Henry went the same way for 6 from 5, run out by Ellie Johnston and Penna off the last ball of the innings.

Hobart added only 31 runs from the last 17 balls, 14 extras included, and finished on a total the Strikers were always likely to reach.

De Broughe and Bouchier set up the chase

Maia Bouchier struck five fours in 26 from 19 balls as the Strikers raced to 43 inside six overs before Lauren Smith had her caught by Hayley Silver-Holmes.

Emma de Broughe anchored the reply with 41 from 37, falling to Isabella Malgioglio with the score 79 in the 11th over.

Laura Wolvaardt, who came into the match with 147 runs from three innings this season, made 27 from 27 before Molly Strano had her caught at 129 in the final over.

McGrath contributed 14 from 14 and Penna 14 from 13, the captain caught by Maddy Green off Smith at 96 for 3.

Smith and Strano drag it to the last ball

Lauren Smith was the pick of the Hurricanes attack with 2-6 from two overs, removing both Bouchier and McGrath.

Strano took two wickets of her own, and Carey and Malgioglio one apiece, to turn a straightforward chase into a finish decided by the last delivery.

Adelaide were 129 for 6 when Wolvaardt fell with four balls left and ten still needed. They took six from the next three and four from the last.

Still nothing on the board for the champions

Hobart went into the match winless after four games and sitting last on the WBBL|12 ladder, their title defence described by the club as one that continues to stutter.

Carey had returned for this fixture after missing the trip to Brisbane following the birth of her son, Louis, and her 66 followed 62 from 43 balls in the last-ball defeat to Melbourne Renegades on 4 November.

That Renegades match was her 150th WBBL appearance, making her the eighth player to reach the mark since the competition began in 2015.

Adelaide, who had lost to the Hurricanes in Hobart a season ago, move on with a win that owed as much to their fielding as to their batting.

Scorecard: Hobart Hurricanes Women 138 for 6 (Carey 66*, Lee 19; Ecclestone 1-37) lost to Adelaide Strikers Women 139 for 6 from 20 overs (de Broughe 41, Wolvaardt 27, Bouchier 26; L Smith 2-6) by four wickets.