Abbott rises to occasion to lift Sixers

When Sean Abbott strode to the middle of the MCG on Saturday night, the Sydney Sixers' hopes of making the finals of the KFC Big Bash League looked in tatters.

The Melbourne Stars had put their top six batters back in the sheds, Abbott had managed just 13 runs in BBL|06 to that point (a lower tally than his competition-leading 16 wickets) and the Sixers needed 60 runs off the final 35 balls.

"I think the scoreboard left me no choice," Abbott said of his mindset as he joined teammate Johan Botha.

"I walked out to the middle and had a quick conversation with 'Boths'. I just said, 'We've got to get together here. If we're any chance of playing in a semi-final, we've got to bat for the next few overs.'

"That's all we were thinking, just to bat for a few overs.

"You still have to give yourself a chance (to get in), whether it's half an over or an over, depending on what the wicket's playing like."

Abbott gave himself exactly three balls to get his eye in, before singlehandedly turned the match.

Second-gamer Liam Bowe, who'd earlier claimed the vital scalp of skipper of Moises Henriques and had conceded only 20 runs from his first three overs, had the first ball of his final over smashed back by Abbott into his shin.

The powerful allrounder sensed his moment against the inexperienced left-arm leggie.

"I was expecting him to bowl more into the wicket and (force me to hit) a few more runs to the long side," Abbott said, referring to the bigger leg-side boundary Bowe was bowling to.

"I don't know how much that one that hit him in the foot hindered what he was trying to do.

"He definitely didn't bowl what I was expecting him to bowl. I got a couple above the eye line, which was nice to the short (straight) boundary.

"If I swung hard enough, I think even a top-edge was going to go."

But the white Kookaburra barely missed the middle of his bat.

In the next six balls (including the first of the next over from Michael Beer), Abbott crunched 19. Suddenly, a Sixers win was back on the cards.

With the equation down to 26 from 18, Abbott struck a straight four off Ben Hilfenhaus before sending his slower bouncer into the tenth row. 

Botha, and then Ben Dwarshuis, did the rest, taking 14 off the ensuing over to remarkably get the Sixers home with six balls to spare.

And while the Sixers had not harped on about the do-or-die nature of the clash, Abbott well aware of how big the occasion was before his match-defining knock of 33 off 17 balls.

"We definitely didn't speak about it," the 24-year-old said. "But I think you have to know that going out to bat.

"There's a bit more incentive to dig in. You're always trying to be clear with your plans, but when there's a semi-final riding on it, it puts a bit more pressure on you.

"You go, 'All right, we have to do this, we have to bat for a couple of overs'."

"I've been battling a bit with the bat and our lower order have had plenty of opportunity.

"There's a been a few games where me and Benny Dwarshuis and Johan could have got us to a competitive total, and we haven't.

"So it was nice for me and 'Boths' to put on 50 there."

Opposition captain David Hussey, whose Stars now face a trip west to face the Perth Scorchers on Tuesday after squandering the chance to lock up a home semi-final, conceded his side had effectively thought the game was theirs before Abbott's terrific cameo.

"I never did but the other boys thought as much," Hussey admitted when asked if the Stars thought the game was won when the Sixers were reduced to 6-97.

"When you take your foot off the pedal in a crucial game, cricket does come back and bite you. I think that's what happened tonight.

"We went away from our plans that we had in place for a couple of their players and got burnt at the back-end."

The Sixers now travel to Brisbane to face the Heat in the second semi-final on Wednesday.

And if they go on to claim their first piece of silverware since winning the inaugural edition of the BBL in 2012, the Sixers will have Abbott to thank for getting them there.