Hobart have salvaged some pride at the end of another disappointing Big Bash League campaign, holding off the Melbourne Stars by seven runs at the MCG.
Like the Stars, the Hurricanes entered their final match of the tournament on Monday night unable to qualify for finals after Adelaide sealed the last spot in the top-four with victory over the Sydney Thunder the previous night.
Beau Webster (55 no) and Marcus Stoinis (48) looked a chance of pushing the Stars past Hobart's 8-187.
But the Stars hopes faded when Stoinis was out to English ace Chris Jordan in the 18th over, with the home side finishing their 20 overs on 4-180.
After being sent in to bat, the Hurricanes flew out of the blocks following a brilliant opening stand from captain Matthew Wade (63) and fellow opener Ben McDermott (50).
Wade and McDermott put on 86 from the first 10 overs to set the tone for the innings.
The Hurricanes then regularly lost wickets for the remainder of their time at the crease, falling about 10 to 15 runs short of what they had looked like reaching.
Star allrounder Dan Lawrence collected 4-35 - the second four-wicket haul of his T20 career - with his gentle right-arm spin.
Hurricanes captain Nathan Ellis had an eventful night, but proved crucial in the Tasmanian team securing their fourth win of the campaign.
After smashing 16 from five balls batting at No.9, Ellis dropped two catches in the first two overs of the Stars’ chase, appearing to hurt his ribs after putting down one chance when he fell on the ball.
But Ellis (2-29) pushed through the pain barrier to continue bowling, dismissing opener Tom Rogers (10).
The match swung decisively in Hobart’s favour when Ellis bowled Glenn Maxwell (32) after the Stars captain threatened to produce a trademark match-winning knock.
Once perennial title contenders without ever winning one, the Stars miss out on finals for a fourth-straight season.
Since they lost the 2019-20 final against the Sydney Sixers, the Stars have finished seventh, sixth, last and fifth.
But Stoinis insists the Stars have improved this season and are on their way back up the table.
"We used to have the rep of always making the final and never winning, which I think was was a great rep if you asked me, because it means that we're doing a lot of things right," he said.
"It was disappointing for us to go missing for two or three years or so.
"But it also feels like we're building back to what we're capable of, we're a very proud franchise and a proud team."
The Hurricanes' record isn't much better, making the finals just once during the last four seasons.
