After a one-sided affair in the first semi-final of the Big Bash League between Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers, the second semi-final between Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat was probably the match of the tournament with last year’s bottom-placed team, Sydney Sixers, qualifying for their third BBL final after prevailing in the Super Over.
Both teams had played a very exciting match in the round-robin where the Sixers won the match with only two balls to spare but their semi-final encounter was one of the best matches played in the BBL. It was only the third match in BBL history to be decided by a Super Over.
After being put into bat by Sydney Sixers skipper Moises Henriques, the Brisbane Heat were off to a steady start thanks to early boundaries by Jimmy Pearson before he perished on 19. Skipper Brendon McCullum then took charge and scored a crucial 46 off 27 deliveries, and thanks to important contributions by Jack Wildermuth, Marnus Labuschagne, and Joe Burns, the Brisbane Heat ended their innings at 167/9 in their overs.
For the Sydney Sixers, Nathan Lyon and Sean Abbott were the pick of the bowlers with four wickets each, but had contrasting economy rates. While Lyon went for only 5.75 runs an over, Abbott went for 10 an over.
In reply, the Sydney Sixers had a shaky start as they lost opener Nick Maddinson and Colin Munro early and were struggling at 34/2 before skipper Moises Henriques and opener Daniel Hughes added a 99-run partnership for the third wicket to keep them in a good position to win the match. The dismissal of Hughes triggered a middle-order collapse, but Johan Botha’s crucial 12-ball cameo of 16 and Ben Cutting’s brilliant final over ensured that the match would go to a Super Over.
In the Super Over, Moises Henriques once again proved himself as the Sydney Sixers’ talisman; he hit two sixes and a boundary off Cutting’s bowling to take the Sydney Sixers to a score of 22, giving the Brisbane Heat an uphill task of chasing 23 in one over.
The Heat were never in the Super Over as Sean Abbott bowled a good over with the only negative being conceding a six off Brendon McCullum. But it was already game over for the Heat and the Sydney Sixers cruised to the final where they will now take on table-toppers Perth Scorchers.
Here are five of the best moments of the match.
Brief Scores: Brisbane Heat - 167/9 in 20 overs (Brendon McCullum - 46, Nathan Lyon - 23/4, Sean Abbott - 40/4; Sydney Sixers - 167/8 in 20 overs (Moises Henriques - 64, Daniel Hughes - 46, Mark Steketee - 21/2)
Result: Sydney Sixers win via Super Over
#5 Sydney Sixers end their Super Over hoodoo at the BBL
There have been three matches in BBL history whose outcome was decided by a Super Over and all three of them involved the Sydney Sixers and Moises Henriques batted in all three of them. The first match was between the Sixers and the Perth Scorchers in the 2013-14 season when both teams were tied on 153.
The Sixers batted first and Moises Henriques scored the only run in that over as Yasir Arafat dismissed both Henriques and Steve Smith. In reply, the Scorchers won the match in the very first delivery as Adam Voges hit a Brett Lee delivery for four.
The second match came in the very next season between the Sixers and Melbourne Stars when both teams were tied on 153. James Faulkner’s two sixes saw the Stars finish on 19. Once again, the Sixers were cleaned up by the opposition, this time for 9 with Moises Henriques scoring a duck.
However, this time, lady luck went easy on the Sixers as they scored 22 in their Super Over with Henriques scoring 18 runs alone. In reply, the Brisbane Heat scored 15 with Brendon McCullum hitting a four and a six but by that time, the match was already over.
#4 Joe Burns opening the bowling
During Brisbane Heat’s batting, the Gabba pitch did not seem very seam-friendly and all of the Sydney Sixers seamers went for over eight an over. Even Sean Abbott, who picked four wickets, conceded 40 runs in his four overs.
Having anticipated this fact, Brisbane Heat captain Brendon McCullum decided to go for slow bowling in the powerplay overs and his best choice would have been opening the bowling with Samuel Badree.
Instead, McCullum opted for Joe Burns, who had bowled a total of eight overs across his entire cricketing career. Burns, however, did not have a bad start as he got the wicket of Nic Maddinson in the very first over.
However, in his very next over, he was hit for two boundaries by Colin Munro and did not bowl another over. He ended the match with figures of 17-1.
#3 Nathan Lyon’s and Sean Abbott’s brilliant spells
The Brisbane Heat amassed a total of 167 in their 20 overs. However, it could have been even more had it not been for the brilliant bowling by Sean Abbott and Nathan Lyon, who took wickets in quick succession which exerted pressure on the middle-order batsmen. Both Lyon and Abbott ended up getting four wickets apiece.
Both Lyon and Abbott began their spells in a balanced manner where they took one wicket each and went for 5 and 13 runs in their opening two overs respectively. However, Lyon was hit for 14 runs in his third over but picked up the prized wicket of Brendon McCullum. He rebounded brilliantly by picking up two wickets and conceding only four runs in his final over.
Abbott, on the other hand, conceded 20 runs in his third over but bounced back really well in his final over, conceding seven runs and picking up three wickets to restrict the Brisbane Heat to 167.
#2 Ben Cutting’s brilliant final over
Thanks to some hard hitting by Moises Henriques, the Sydney Sixers were in a good position to reach the final as they needed only six to win from the final over. At this point, Brendon McCullum gave the ball to Ben Cutting, who conceded ten runs from his first over.
Johan Botha was the player facing Cutting in the final over and he began with a dot ball which was bowled short and slow. He conceded two runs in his next two deliveries and the Sixers needed only four runs from three deliveries. In the very next delivery, he took the key wicket of Johan Botha. After a leg bye in the penultimate delivery, Cutting held his nerve and his short delivery could only be pulled for a couple and the match went to a Super Over.
Due to his brilliant run containment in the final over, Cutting was given the responsibility to bowl the Super Over. However, this time, he couldn’t control the runs as Moises Henriques smacked him ball after ball and went on to concede 22 runs, which the Brisbane Heat could not chase down as they fell short by seven runs.
#1 Moises Henriques - Sydney Sixers’ saviour
The Sydney Sixers did not have the best of starts to their run chase as they lost Nic Maddinson in the very first over and Colin Munro soon followed suite after some early boundaries. At this point, Sixers captain Moises Henriques came in to join opener Daniel Hughes on the crease at the end of the fourth over.
For the first few overs, Henriques did not get enough strike but once he was in the striker’s end, it started raining fours and sixes at the Gabba and Henriques’ aggression allowed Daniel Hughes to play more defensively and exert pressure on the Brisbane Heat bowlers. Henriques eventually got out on 64 from 34 deliveries.
However, Henriques was not finished and he went out to bat with Munro in the Super Over. Henriques faced four deliveries and hit 18 runs to take the Sydney Sixers to 22. The total was too much for the Brisbane Heat to chase and they fell short by 11 runs. Henriques was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant batting.
Moises Henriques has established himself as Sydney Sixers’ talisman in the competition and if he is able to put on a similar performance in the final against the dangerous Perth Scorchers then he might lead the Sydney Sixers to their second BBL title.
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