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THE Sydney Thunder have extended their losing streak to 736 days in a dramatic Big Bash League match against the Adelaide Strikers at ANZ Stadium.
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Captain Michael Hussey smashed 85 off 56 balls, the highest individual score of the tournament so far, but it wasn't enough to reach the modest 154-run target.
A decent crowd of 11,068 were at the venue for the Thunder's first home game of the season, encouraging the western Sydney team to finally bring their excruciating 14-match losing streak to an end.
And it was a case of what could have been as the Thunder fell six runs short in a dramatic final over that saw Hussey forced to replace his broken bat, which he then used to sky a Shaun Tait delivery down the throat of Johan Botha.
It was game over, leaving a bemused crowd to silently file out of the stadium.
The Thunder's chase got off to the worst possible start when Daniel Hughes was trapped lbw by Johan Botha for a second-ball duck.
Then two wickets in two balls from Michael Neser, first Carl Sandri then Ryan Carters, threatened to derail the home team's innings.
But that brought the crucial pairing of Hussey and Eoin Morgan to the crease and their mammoth partnership brought 109 runs.
Speedster Tait went for 17 runs in the 11th over, feeling the full force of Hussey's bat. The Thunder skipper belted a six and two fours to put his team in a fighting position.
The former Test star brought up his half-century with a massive six off spinner Adam Zampa and it came off just 31 balls.
Michael Neser celebrates a vital Thunder wicket with his Strikers teammates. Pic: Brendon Thorne Source: Getty Images
Morgan was just as brutal at the other end, hitting two memorable reverse-sweeps for four.
It was always going to require a big partnership from the left-handlers to get the Thunder over the line and they were hardly challenged by the Strikers' bowling or the difficult pitch, until the final over.
Earlier, Adelaide openers Alex Hales and Michael Klinger got the visitors off to a fast start, both getting off the mark with boundaries. They rode their luck early on, but it didn't last.
Hales, the Englishman ranked the best Twenty20 hitter in the world, departed for just 16 when he top-edged a Luke Feldman delivery to Kurtis Patterson, who took a good catch running backwards.
That brought Ashes discard Phil Hughes to the crease, but good bowling from Gurinder Sandhu (0-21) and Chris Woakes (1-31) pegged the Strikers back.
The boundaries dried up, causing a frustrated Hughes to mis-hit one from Italian spinner Sandri and Morgan raced in from long on to take a good, diving catch.
Klinger then unleashed the first six of the innings in the 11th over, hitting Sandri hard and high into the crowd. But the opener fell the very next over, clean bowled by Feldman for 44 off 34 balls.
Nathan Reardon added 32 runs at the end of the innings to give the Strikers something to defend, but excellent bowling spells by Feldman (2-41) and in particular Dirk Nannes (2-22) gave the Thunder a rare sniff of BBL victory.
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