Captain Nicola Carey struck her second successive fifty, but Hobart Hurricanes succumbed to their fifth loss in a row following a last-ball defeat to Adelaide Strikers in the WBBL.

Sophie Ecclestone’s three-ball cameo clinched the thriller, hitting two fours in the final over. The second one came when they needed exactly four off the last one, having nearly fumbled a chase they looked well-set for at one point.

Carey anchored the Hurricanes after a lethargic start. Chamari Athapaththu just couldn’t get going; on eight off 20 at one point, she was eventually retired out on 10 off 26. Lizelle Lee, meanwhile, began the innings with a four, and attacked Sophie Ecclestone within the Powerplay. But the left-arm spinner trapped her leg-before after getting hit four two fours in her opening over. Rachel Trenaman, too, had a brief duel with Madeline Penna, before being nabbed by her.

As Athapaththu struggled to get going, Carey too got off to a slow start. When the Sri Lanka batter was retired out, Carey herself was on 15 off 23. But she managed to flip around the scoring rate.

There were no sixes, but Carey kept collecting fours, even as the others batted around her without lending any firepower to the innings. She got to her fifty in the 19th over, hitting three fours off five Tahlia McGrath deliveries. That they managed to go from 84/3 to 138/5 in the last five overs was down to Carey’s crucial, late surge.

The Strikers, also coming off two losses, set off much quicker. Maia Bouchier took three fours off Chinelle Henry’s first over which set up their Powerplay. They were placed comfortably on 43/1 after six, losing Bouchier to Linsey Smith off the last ball of the fielding restrictions.

Emma de Broughe, the other opener, carried on alongside Laura Wolvaardt. At the ten-over mark, they stood at 71/1.

De Broughe’s dismissal the following over stalled the innings a bit. Smith came back to prise out McGrath as well. Between overs 10 and 15, they only gathered 27 runs. Molly Strano and Heather Graham further put the brakes on them, leaving them with 17 to win off the last two. Wolvaardt held on to one end, but the boundaries dried out.

Carey, slightly expensive until that point, struck in her final over, the penultimate off the game, to leave them with 12 to get off the final one.

Wolvaardt fell to Strano for a run-a-ball 27, adding another twist at the end. But Ecclestone’s three-ball cameo clinched the game for the Strikers.

Brief scores: Hobart Hurricanes Women 138/5 in 20 overs (Nicola Carey 66, Sophie Ecclestone 1-37, Madeline Penna 1-14) lost to Adelaide Strikers Women 139/6 in 20 overs (Emma de Broughe 41, Laura Wolvaardt 27; Lauren Smith 2-6, Molly Strano 2-30) by four wickets.