Philippe, Edwards shine to hand Sixers Sydney Smash honours

Marquee man Babar Azam has hit form as Josh Philippe came agonisingly close to a first BBL century in the Sydney Sixers' 47-run defeat of rivals the Sydney Thunder.

The perennial heavyweights had been staring down the possibility of a 0-3 start to the summer before Philippe (96) and Azam's 140-run stand kickstarted their season on Saturday night.

Set 199 runs for victory, the Thunder were left to rue a collapse of 3-17 inside the powerplay that included losing superstars Sam Konstas (2) and David Warner (2) in the same Jack Edwards over.

Edwards finished with career-best figures of 5-26 as the Sixers (5-198) skittled the Thunder, who had won the toss, for 151 with five balls remaining.

“They kept hitting him straight up, so that was nice,” a self-deprecating Edwards joked afterwards.

“It was nice to have a few different roles, bowling with the new ball in the Surge.”

Edwards, now 26, is reaping the benefits of several years of hard work to make his bowling a genuine weapon in domestic cricket.

“It's probably been a five- or six-year journey,” he reflected.

“I didn't really bowl that much when I was 18 or 19, so, yeah, I quickly realized how hard batting was at this level (so I) worked on the bowling.

“It would be a waste of attributes if I didn't work hard at it. It's nice that it's starting to come together.”

The defeat leaves last season's runners-up winless through two games, despite some stiff resistance from No.5 Sam Billings (51 runs off 28 balls).

Azam failed to crack double digits in either of his first two knocks after arriving at the Sixers as one of the highest-profile signings in BBL history.

But the Pakistani opener (58 of 42 balls) looked comfortable on an ENGIE Stadium deck more batter-friendly than that of previous summers.

Azam, who has scored the most T20I half-centuries of any player, passed 50 for the first time in the BBL with a single off Nathan McAndrew (2-41) in the power surge.

He eventually gloved English paceman Reece Topley (3-41) to wicketkeeper Billings, ending the fourth-highest partnership in Sixers history on review by the Thunder.

Edwards told reporters the Sixers had framed the match as the first of Azam's BBL|15 campaign, and the approach quickly dividends.

“We’re super pleased for Babar.

“We weren't able to give him his hat in Perth (in the opening fixture against the Scorchers) because the game was rushed, so we pretended tonight was his debut and it was his first bat, so he started his tournament tonight.”

“We’re super happy that he was a part of a great partnership with Josh… It put us in a great position.”

An umpire review cruelly denied Sixers wicketkeeper-batter Philippe the chance to kick on to a first T20 century in his 104th BBL game, with Daniel Sams' catch judged to be clean and not kissing the turf.

Batting at No.3 this summer, former opener Philippe clubbed four sixes on his way into the nineties to continue a great start to the tournament. But just as Philippe looked ready to become the third male Sixers player to notch a ton, he sent McAndrew to Sams at backward point.

Sams had endured a sloppy night on the boundary rope at the ground's southern edge and replays cast doubt as to whether his hands were under the ball.

But the third umpire ruled a fair catch and Philippe missed out, also left to rue a feat of fielding brilliance from Konstas in the ninth over. The former Test opener flew high to hit the ball back into play and reduce what would've been a six to two runs; Philippe ended up four shy of 100.

But Philippe was busy again during the Thunder's stay at the crease, stumping Matthew Gilkes (12) off Todd Murphy (1-15) in the first over.

The hosts were in deep trouble when Konstas and Warner both picked out fielders in the space of three Edwards deliveries.

Shadab Khan (41) skied Edwards to reliable Jordan Silk at deep midwicket to hand Edwards his first T20 five-wicket haul and put the Sixers within reach of victory.

KFC BBL|15 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	7	3	0	0	1.363	0	14
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	3	0	1	0.605	0	13
3 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	6	3	0	1	0.331	0	13
4 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	6	4	0	0	0.759	0	12
5 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	5	5	0	0	-0.431	0	10
6 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.231	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	3	7	0	0	-1.202	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	2	8	0	0	-1.212	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points