Ben McDermott makes Big Bash history with remarkable batting performance

Joshua Mayne

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Ben McDermott makes Big Bash history with remarkable batting performance image

Ben McDermott has made Australian cricket history, becoming the only player to score three centuries in the history of the Big Bash League.

He notched up 110 not out on Monday night in a win over the Adelaide Strikers, before making 127 runs on Wednesday against the Melbourne Renegades. 

The Hobart Hurricanes batter is also the first player to score back-to-back tons in the BBL. 

McDermott made his centuries quickly, too. 

It took him only 60 balls to score an unbeaten 110, before following that up with 127 runs from 65 balls two days later. 

The Queenslander's 127 is the third-highest score in BBL history, behind Marcus Stoinis' 147 and Matthew Wade's 130, which both came during the 2019-20 summer.

Former Australian star Andrew Symonds described McDermott's performance against the Renegades as "the best Big Bash innings ever played" during the Fox Sports broadcast.

The feat has only been matched overseas when Shikhar Darwan made back-to-back Twenty20 centuries in the 2020 Indian Premier League.

Speaking to Fox Sports after the match, McDermott was even impressed by his own performance. 

“It’s a bit surreal," McDermott said.

"I’m over the moon, I can’t wait to sit back and enjoy [watching] it.

“It’s coming out of the screws at the moment, but I know how quickly it can change so I want to keep riding the wave while I can.”

 

 

The 27-year-old's performance played a key role in the Hurricane's win on Wednesday night, with the Renegades dominating early.

The Melbourne-based side opted to field, with bowler Reece Topley grabbing two early wickets.  

By the tenth over, the Hurricanes were at 3-66, with McDermott scoring 39 of those runs.

He took over during the power surge, however, scoring 44 runs from the two overs with his batting partner Peter Handscomb. 

His mighty knock eventually came to an end when he was run out by Sam Harper on the final ball of the innings.

The Hurricanes' 206 run total was enough to win the match, with the side taking a comfortable 85 run win.

Joshua Mayne

Joshua Mayne Photo

Joshua Mayne is a content producer for The Sporting News Australia based in Sydney, Australia. He has previously worked as a newsreader at 2SER and journalist at Ministry of Sport. While Joshua’s main passions are football, rugby league, basketball and F1, he will watch any sport that's on. He is still waiting for Arsenal to win the Premier League again.