Although Josh Phillipee would rue the fact that he got out just when one more run was required to reach the revised Duckworth- Lewis target of 129, but Sixers and it’s fans would be pleased with the way he led the team to the victory at Manuka Oval. Due to rain post the first innings, the target for the sixers was reduced from 167 to 129, which was to be chased in 14 overs. The men in Pink to their credit chased it down with eight balls to spare.
With this five-wicket win, they have now got a clear lead at the top of the table getting six points ahead of the second-placed Thunder.
Coming down to chase the revised target, the Sixers’ wicket-keeper batsman and dynamite opener decided to get going right from word go. After setting his eyes in the opening over, he slammed left-arm spinner, Jonathan Cook, for 23 runs in only the second over of the innings. The momentum shifted to the Sixers and there was no looking back from thereon. His whirlwind knock took the Sixers over the 50 mark in just 4 overs further taking the game away from the Thunder
Though Thunder got wickets in regular intervals, Philippe didn’t stall the run flow, scoring the fastest fifty of his BBL career, which came in just 24 balls.
The Thunder bowlers after the initial drubbing from Philippe came back well and picked wickets to keep their team in the hunt. When the runs slowed down a bit with Jordan Silk playing a few dots, Philippe decided to take the Power Surge and Daniel Sams was called in by Thunder skipper Callum Ferguson to bowl the all-important over.
At this stage, the Sixers required 31 off 24 balls and Sams got Silk out off the very first delivery. Facing the third delivery of the Power Surge over, new man Dan Christian hit it in the air and Alex Ross ran behind to cover a good amount of ground but after doing the hard work he dropped the catch and Sixers got the much-needed reprieve. Had the catch been taken another new batsman would have come in and more pressure would have been transferred in the young shoulders of Philippe and then who knows? After all, funnier things have happened in the last few overs of a BBL encounter!
Post the dropped catch, Christian smashed 15 from just five balls to seal the game.
Earlier in the day, Sixers skipper Daniel Hughes won the toss and decided to send in Thunder to bat. Accepting the invitation the Thunder openers, especially Alex Hales leapt on to the opportunity, thrashing the Sixers’ bowlers left, right, and center of the ground. He was so aggressive in his approach that the Men in Green had reached 44 in just 3.3 overs when Usman Khawaja, who was at 2 from 6 balls decided to lift one up in the air and holed out to Christian at mid-off.
From there on, the momentum started shifting and Ferguson too got out cheaply for just three runs. Hales was joined by fellow Englishman Sam Billings and the duo tried to provide some stability in the middle. But in the 10th over of the innings from the experienced left-arm spinner, Steve O’Keefe changed the complexion of the whole game. He got both Billings and Hales out in the same over, both trying to clear the ropes and both holding out to the men at the fence.
Hales made 54 off 33 and got himself on the second spot among highest run-scorers in BBL 10 while Billings made 15 off 15. In his very next over and last one of the spells, O’Keefe also got Ross out LBW and finished with impressive figures of 3/15 in his quota of 4 overs.
After the middle order collapse, two all-rounders in Sams and Ben Cutting tried to rebuild the innings and built a 27 runs partnership, before Cutting was caught brilliantly by Philippe of Jake Ball. Post his wicket Sams got into an aggressive mindset and along with Nathan McAndrew scored 44 runs in 23 balls. The 28-year-old hit a four on the last ball of the last over to reach his fifty and took the team total to 166/6. This was Sam’s second fifty of the tournament and incidentally, both have come at Manuka Oval.
The Sixers will now face Perth Scorchers in another heavyweight clash at the same venue on 16th January while Thunder will take on Hurricanes who can’t afford to lose any more games. That match will also be played at Manuka Oval only on 18th January.
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