Daniel Hughes and Joe Denly pilot the Sixers first win of the BBL season with the Sydney Smash decided on the last ball
Sixers snap losing run in tense Sydney Smash
The score: Sydney Sixers -2-157 (Daniel Hughes 66no, Joe Denly 43; Fawad Ahmed 1-22) defeated Sydney Thunder 6-156 (Chris Green 49, James Vince 34; Moises Henriques 2-25)
Match in a tweet: Phew! Far too close for comfort, but the Sixers score their first points of the BBL season, with Hughes and Denly starring #BBL07
The hero: Daniel Hughes played the support role to the more aggressive Joe Denly during the early stages of the Sydney Sixers run chase, the pair putting on 69 in nine overs before the Englishman was knocked over by Fawad Ahmed. Hughes then took charge to ensure the Sixers notched their first victory of their KFC Big Bash League campaign following six consecutive losses, compiling a well-made 66 not out from 55 balls and striking four boundaries and a six. Hughes was also involved in a 58-run stand with Nic Maddinson and while the match probably shouldn’t have come down to the last ball due to the wickets the Sixers had in hand, they got the desired result after being in control for most of their innings.
The support cast: In his first appearance at BBL level, Denly whacked an action packed 43 from 28 balls, including three sixes. It didn’t take long for the opener to get his eye in, belting two sixes off Gurinder Sandhu in the third over of the Sixers’ innings. Denly, who represents Kent in the ECB’s County cricket competition and has played five T20 Internationals for England and 163 T20s, replaced Jason Roy as one the BBL club’s international and made an encouraging start, hitting the ball crisply and showing his ability to clear the rope.
The consolation effort: Chris Green forms a crucial part of the Thunder’s bowling line-up, and tonight he showed his ability with the bat in posting a career-best score. Promoted to No.5 in the batting order, Green made 49 from 27 balls – easily topping his previous best T20 return of 22 – and blasted three sixes in an entertaining knock.
The dab: Making his first appearance for the BBL season, Sixers import Carlos Brathwaite wasted no time making an impact against his former club. The West Indian removed the in-form Usman Khawaja for just eight and then celebrated the only way he knows how…
The return: After taking two weeks of personal leave, Moises Henriques returned to the Sixers line-up and played a key role in his team’s victory. The allrounder snared two wickets, a run out and contributed 18 not out with the bat after a tough start to the season, with the Sixers looking to finish their campaign on a high.
The silly point: A crowd member failed to hang on to a Denly six in the third over of the Sixers innings, drawing some different reactions from those around him…
The fantasy wrap: Green ($71,000) topped the rankings with 93 points, Henriques ($50,900) logged 81 and Hughes ($47,800) 74.
The next stops: The Sixers (1-6) will be chasing their second win of the tournament against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Tuesday, while the Thunder’s (3-5) next clash is also against the Stars at the MCG next Saturday.
.@SixersBBL XI: Daniel Hughes, Joe Denly, Nic Maddinson, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Carlos Brathwaite, Johan Botha (c), Peter Nevill (wk), Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Lyon #BBL07%E2%80%94 KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 13, 2018
.@ThunderBBL XI: Shane Watson (c), Fawad Ahmed, Callum Ferguson, Chris Green, Usman Khawaja, Jay Lenton (wk), Mitchell McClenaghan, Arjun Nair, Ben Rohrer, Gurinder Sandhu, James Vince #BBL07%E2%80%94 KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 13, 2018