Friday, 24 January 2020:

ALEX HALES of Notts Outlaws bats during the Vitality T20 Blast match between Notts Outlaws and Yorkshire Vikings at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England.

D'Arcy Short has starred with the ball on his BBL return as the Hobart Hurricanes kept their finals hopes alive with a convincing 57-run win over Sydney Thunder on Friday night.

Having missed several weeks while on tour with the Australian ODI side in India, Short took a career-best 5-21 at Bellerive Oval as the Hurricanes successfully defended 6-185.

Thunder opener Alex Hales (63 from 42 balls) had the visitors on track at the halfway point of the chase until Short's spin struck two crucial blows in the 13th over.

Short had Hales caught off a leading edge and then trapped Chris Morris lbw for a single a few balls later to turn the match in the host's favour.

The Thunder, fifth coming into the match and themselves chasing an important win in their penultimate regular-season game, then lost 8-28 to be bowled out for 128.

Hobart has jumped ahead of the Thunder on the ladder but must beat Adelaide on Australia Day and rely on other results going their way to make the finals.

"Hopefully things fall our way. If they don't we haven't played good enough cricket to deserve to get the number five spot," skipper Matthew Wade said.

"(But) with a couple of guys back we've got a team to challenge."

Despite his heroics with the ball Short was bowled for a second ball duck by Arjun Nair after the Hurricanes elected to bat first.

"If he misses out with the bat, he usually contributes with the ball. We're stoked to have him back," Wade said.

"He's a quality bowler in T20 cricket."

Youngster Mac Wright top scored with 64 from 45 deliveries, his second half-century in as many innings.

The 22-year-old shared a 97-run stand with Wade (56 from 34) to form the backbone of the innings.

In his final match on home soil before retirement, veteran George Bailey chipped in with a valuable 10-ball 29 late in the innings.

Daniel Sams (4-32 from four overs) was the pick of the Sydney attack.

AAP