Mitchell Owen has described his life-changing century in the Big Bash League final as surreal, his breathtaking innings featuring some of the cleanest hitting ever seen in Twenty20 cricket.
Owen’s remarkable 42-ball 108 (a 39-ball century) led his Hobart Hurricanes to their maiden BBL championship on Monday night.
Owen’s pyrotechnics including crunching 11 sixes and six fours. Here’s the tale of how Owen destroyed the Thunder.
If Warner and his men were confident they had enough on the board (182) at Bellerive Oval to claim victory, that soon changed when the Hurricanes thumped 23 off a wayward first over by fast bowler Nathan McAndrew (there were five wides off the first ball of the innings). On the final three deliveries, Owen blazed a six over mid-wicket and back-to-back boundaries to dash to 14, with partner Caleb Jewell yet to score.
Seventeen came off the second over, Owen’s swept six off left-arm spinner Tom Andrews landing on the hill at deep-wicket.
Owen unleashed nothing short of terror on paceman Wes Agar in the third over, crunching three sixes. The first, a 134km/h delivery, was flicked off his pads into the second deck of the Ricky Ponting Stand; the second a clip over long on, having danced down the pitch; the third after muscling a delivery over mid-wicket. There was also a clubbed four over extra cover, 22 coming off the over to leave the home side at a remarkable 0-66 after three overs, and the local crowd in a frenzy.
Another six followed in the next over when a low full toss was sliced over deep cover-point, while spinner Chris Green was welcomed to the crease in the fifth over with a flat six over deep mid-wicket.
Owen took just 16 balls to complete his half-century, the joint third-fastest in BBL history, joining Tom Banton from five seasons ago. Only Chris Gayle (12 deliveries) and Dan Christian (15) have posted quicker BBL fifties.
After five overs, Owen was a remarkable 68 not out off 23 deliveries, while Jewell was unbeaten on seven off seven deliveries.
Leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was slog-swept off one knee by Owen for six in the next over, while the 100-run partnership was confirmed in only the seventh over, which featured another slog sweep by Owen.
Two wickets fell in the eighth over, but neither was Owen. He continued to prosper, prompting Australian great Mark Waugh to say the national selectors would take note.
“The Australian selectors would have to be taking notice of Mitch Owen’s batting in this tournament,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“In the T20 level, obviously, as good hitting as I’ve seen in a long time in this tournament. Fields well, can bowl. He’s crunched anything in his arc, whether it be spin or pace.”
Owen had a chance for history in the 10th over, but fell just shy of having the all-time fastest BBL century. Instead, he equalled the 39-ball record set by Perth’s Craig Simmons against the Adelaide Strikers in 2014.
Facing the spin of Sangha, Owen crunched a six over the hill off the first delivery, but did not score off the second. He needed a six off the third delivery to claim the record, his flat pull shot for four landed just short of the rope.
His second century of the summer was delivered next ball with two runs through wide mid-on off a pull shot. This made his century, after 9.4 overs, the quickest ever in terms of overall overs bowled, edging Glenn Maxwell (10.4 overs) when he posted a ton against the Hurricanes in 2022.
Fittingly, Owen followed up the milestone with a slog sweep for six over mid-wicket.
With victory in sight, Owen’s grand knock came to a close on the second ball off the 11th over, when his skied hoick off Andrews was caught at deep square leg. He was given a rousing standing ovation.
“So surreal. To be here and hear them chanting my name, it hasn’t quite sunk in, but it’s amazing, and I’m so grateful for it,” Owen, 23, told Fox Cricket.
“All I wanted to do was lift that trophy. I was actually disappointed to get out, I wanted to be able to hit the winning runs and get us home a little bit easier, so I didn’t have to sit there a bit nervous, but it’s super special, it’s a childhood dream, and I’m so grateful.”
Owen’s 11 sixes are the second-most by any player in a BBL match, bettered only by Josh Brown, who crunched a dozen against the Strikers in 2024. His power game exploded this season, for his 36 sixes were the most ever in a BBL season, besting Alex Hales’ tally of 30 in the 2020-21 season, according to Cricinfo.
Hurricanes teammate Matthew Wade, who finished 32 not out, and has experienced it all in international cricket, was in awe at what he had witnessed.
“I haven’t seen too many blokes hit the ball like that and the way he can just keep going,” Wade said.
“To be honest, I was wanting him to go through the gears a little bit, but he doesn’t have that in him, he just keeps going and takes the game away from the teams. It was exceptional hitting, he’s going to be a hell of a player for a long time.”
