Paine in race to be fit for Hobart

Former Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine isn’t going to let a broken toe stand in the way of helping the Hobart Hurricanes overcome Big Bash League champions Perth Scorchers.

The vice-captain suffered the injury at training in the lead up to Wednesday’s 37-run loss to the Melbourne Renegades and was absent for Friday’s six-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder.

But with significantly reduced swelling on Saturday, Paine has been named in the Hurricanes’ squad for Sunday’s Bellerive Oval fixture against the Scorchers.

“Tim is a very important part of this team so we need to give him every opportunity to play,” coach Damien Wright said.

“He is subject to a fitness test but we are really hopeful that he will get through it and be right to play”.

Ben Dunk is expected to again play `keeper on Sunday.

The Scorchers will travel to Hobart with an unchanged squad from Thursday’s eight-wicket home ground win against the Brisbane Heat.

The boys from the west have four wins from six matches in the competition to be placed second.

Coach Justin Langer maintains that the field is still open ahead of the finals.

“We know we need to win at least another one to get into the finals and hopefully a home semi-final,” he said.

For the Hurricanes Sunday’s match is a must-win to keep alive any chance of a finals berth.

Hurricanes squad: George Bailey (capt), Tim Bresnan, Cameron Boyce, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hill, Shoaib Malik, Dominic Michael, Tim Paine, Jake Reed, Jon Wells.

Scorchers squad: Adam Voges (capt), Ashton Agar, Yasir Arafat, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Michael Carberry, Matthew Dixon, Marcus Harris, Brad Hogg, Michael Klinger, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman.

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