Hobart Hurricanes captain Nathan Ellis was involved in a horrific billboard collision during the 29th match of the 2024-25 Big Bash League (BBL 2024-25) against Sydney Thunder on Friday 10 January at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
The incident unfolded on the fourth ball of the 15th over at Bellerive Oval in Hobart when Nathan Ellis nearly gave fans and players a heart attack as he lay motionless on the pitch after crashing into the billboard in Hobart.
Nathan Ellis crashes into billboards in horrifying incident during BBL 2024-25 encounter
In a horrifying incident during the 2024-25 Big Bash League match, the Hobart Hurricanes captain injured himself after a toss while attempting a full-length dive to stop the ball reaching the boundary. It all started when Riley Meredith's length delivery was edged over square leg and Sam Billings raced in for his second run after hitting the ball for a six.
Read also: Watch: Incredible scenes! David Warner breaks his bat and hits his head in the BBL
The throw at the bowler's end hit David Warner's bat, sending the ball the other way. However, despite the long drive, Nathan Ellis tracked it down, trying to put the ball back into play. Unfortunately, momentum landed the Aussie pacer on the billboards at Hobart's Bellerive Oval.
Ellis hit his head on the billboards. The Hurricanes' pacer remained motionless for a while, looking shaken and agitated, but thankfully did not lose consciousness. Meanwhile, a physio rushed onto the field to attend to the Hobart Hurricanes captain, with play stopped for several minutes.
Nathan Ellis hits his head straight into the billboard trying to save a boundary..good news is he's gone and looking good..hope he's good #BBL2024 #NathanEllis pic.twitter.com/Suo9BLp2L8
— to $hy (@linktoshy) January 10, 2025
Ricky Ponting salutes Nathan Ellis for his commitment to the game and his team Hobart Hurricanes
After a brief check-up, the Hurricanes pacer was able to communicate with the team and broadcasters, reassuring everyone that he was fine despite the horrific incident during the 2024-25 BBL clash. After a quick recovery, Ellis was able to return to complete his quota of overs in the first innings, showing immense resilience in the face of the nasty collision.
Following the incident during the BBL 2024-25 clash, Ricky Ponting hailed Ellis as the Aussie pacer returned to the field and even completed his quota in the BBL clash. Ponting said live: “You won't find a more determined competitor than Nathan Ellis.”
“You won't find a more determined competitor than Nathan Ellis.”
– Ricky Ponting, with Ellis not only back on the field, but back with the ball in hand #BBL14 https://t.co/MKJlSDPJQU pic.twitter.com/WTEfhAs9D5
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 10, 2025
Nathan Ellis completed his quota of four overs but remained wicketless as he conceded 42 runs to Sydney Thunder. However, Hobart Hurricanes managed to beat the Thunders by six wickets in the 2024-25 BBL clash thanks to Tim David's unbeaten fifty in Hobart on Friday.
Tim David played with the bat as the Hurricanes crushed the Thunders by 6 wickets
Chasing the 165-run target, Tim David single-handedly powered the Hurricanes to a six-wicket win over the Thunders in 17 overs. However, Nikhil Chaudhary also contributed 29 runs to the hosts' successful chase. Nikhil and David added 41 runs for the fourth wicket, while Tim and Chris Jordan (18*) added an unbeaten 65 from just 28 balls to take the Hurricanes over the line with 19 balls to spare.
For the Thunders, George Garton took two wickets in the match while Riley Meredith took two wickets for Hobart in the 2024-25 BBL match. After winning the Man of the Match award, Tim David said: “We've had a really good team this season; We're playing well and we've done well to get to the top of this table so we're looking forward to the next three games.”
With this win, Hobart Hurricanes topped the 2024-25 Big Bash League points table with 11 points from seven matches, one goalless and one defeat.