BBL 2016/17, Match 1 Review: Sixers emerges victorious in the Sydney derby

View : 174

3 Min Read

Moises Henriques
info
Moises Henriques of the Sixers bats during the Big Bash League match between the Sydney Thunder and the Sydney Sixers. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Defending champions Sydney Thunders hosted their cross-city rivals Sydney Sixers for the second straight year to kick off the Big Bash League 2016/17 in grand style. The match, better called as the ‘Sydney Derby’ gave a perfect start to the year – end T20 extravaganza as the Sixers beat the Thunders by commanding 9 wickets margin in front of the majority crowd at the Sydney Showground Stadium.

Set 160 runs to win, the Sixers needed only 18 over to overhaul the target and go back home as the victors. Skipper Moises Henriques did the bulk of the work, scoring 71 off just 41 balls while opener Daniel Hughes played a relatively calmer knock of 54 off 499 deliveries.

The chase was uncomplicated. Openers Jason Roy and Daniel Hughes started off on a sensible note adding 45 for the first wicket before the former was dismissed by Ander Russell. The Thunders could not get any breakthrough thereafter as the Hughes – Henriques duo finished off the matter without breaking much sweat.

On a colourful day at Sydney, Thunders’ Andre Russell gave a glimpse of the amusing stuffs which could be expected this season. The biggest highlight of the closely fought game was the colourful bat used by the West Indies superstar who won all the T20 franchise titles, except the IPL last calendar year. While we have earlier seen Blizzard use a bat with green shade all over it, Dre Russ today surprised many when he came out with a black bat. Unfortunately, he could create any impact his new bashing weapon.

The Sixers led by Moises Henriques promptly put their opposition to bat after calling it right during the toss time. The ploy to start off with the left arm spin of the Steve O Keefe gave immediate success as Thunders opener Kurtis Patterson lost his wicket in the third over of the match. The effect of the early impact wasn’t visible though as the Thunders recovered with the contributions from Ryan Gibson and Eoin Morgan who together knitted a quick 55 runs stand in just 5.3 over to set things in line for the batting side.

But, just when it seemed like the Thunders were back roaring, Johan Botha, the former South African off-spinner who recently became an Australian citizen, triggered a wobble by getting rid of Eoin Morgan and breaking through for the Sixers. Fast bowlers Joe Meanie, who made his Australia debut this year along with Doug Bollinger then snapped four-wicket between then in three overs to block the run flow and ensure that the Thunder were restricted for a functional score.

In the 10th over, Meanie got better of both Ben Rohrer and Jake Doran within the first three balls of the over. Bollinger chipped in with the scalps of Andre Russell and Chris Green off the 3rd and the 5th delivery in the 11th over. The Thunder never recovered after this shake up and eventually managed just 159/8 despite a late useful cameo from Pat Cummins (30 from 20 balls) and Clint Mckay (14 from 11 balls) who contributed with quick-fire cameos.

Brief Scores:

Sydney Thunder: 159/8 in 20 overs (Ryan Gibson 53; Joe Meanie 2/16)

Sydney Sixers: 160/1 in 18 overs (Moises Henriques 71; Andre Russell 1/27)

Player of the matchMoises Henriques (Sydney Sixers)

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store