Vs Challenger 24 January 2025

Challenger • Sydney Cricket Ground • Sydney

Sydney Sixers

151/7 (20)

Sydney Thunder

157/6 (18.5)

ST won by 4 wickets

Info

Live

Scorecard

Stats

Mini Games

Date & Time

24 Jan, 01:45 PM IST

Venue

Sydney Cricket Ground

Match

Challenger,

Big Bash League

Umpires

Donovan Koch (Australia), Sam Nogajski (Australia), Phillip Gillespie (Australia, TV)

Referee

Steve Davis (Australia)

Toss

Sydney Thunder elected to bowl

Pitch Report

PitchFlat Track Pitch

Pace BowlingPace & Bounce

Batting ConditionAverage

Spin BowlingAverage

1st Innings

159Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

135.07Avg SR

2nd Innings

139Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

132.1Avg SR

Weather Update

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

7- 2

Team Form (Recent 5 Matches, Latest First)

Sydney Sixers

Sydney Thunder

Players to Watch

Top Batters

David Warner

ST . BAT

346 Runs

10 Matches

James Vince

SS . BAT

228 Runs

6 Matches

Sam Billings

ST . WK

209 Runs

10 Matches

Top Bowlers

Ben Dwarshuis

SS . BOWL

14 Wkts

10 Matches

Chris Green

ST . ALL

12 Wkts

10 Matches

Sean Abbott

SS . BOWL

10 Wkts

6 Matches

Player of the Match Sam Billings

42(29)

Info

Sydney Sixers

151/7 (20)

Batters

Kurtis Patterson

100.00

c Green b Agar

Jack Edwards

87.50

c Warner b McAndrew

Josh Philippe

133.33

runout (Sangha)

Moises Henriques

96.67

c Garton b Andrews

Jordan Silk

143.33

Not out

Lachlan Shaw

0.00

c Warner b Andrews

Ben Dwarshuis

150.00

c Weibgen b Garton

Hayden Kerr

142.86

c Billings b Agar

Ben Manenti

100.00

Not out

Extras

(B: 1, LB: 2, NB: 1, W: 0)

TOTAL

(20 Ov, RR: 7.55)

151/7

Did not Bat

Mitchell Perry, Jafer Chohan

Bowlers

EXT

Nathan McAndrew

10.50

Wes Agar

6.50

Tanveer Sangha

6.50

Chris Green

6.25

Tom Andrews

7.50

George Garton

7.00

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Jack Edwards

c Warner b McAndrew

1-15

2.4

Kurtis Patterson

c Green b Agar

2-19

3.4

Josh Philippe

runout (Sangha)

3-50

8.1

Moises Henriques

c Garton b Andrews

4-76

12.1

Lachlan Shaw

c Warner b Andrews

5-76

12.3

Ben Dwarshuis

c Weibgen b Garton

6-132

18.1

Hayden Kerr

c Billings b Agar

7-150

19.5

Sydney Thunder

157/6 (18.5)

Batters

Jason Sangha

157.89

c Edwards b Chohan

David Warner

122.22

c Edwards b Perry

Matthew Gilkes

118.18

runout (Edwards / Kerr)

Sam Billings

144.83

Not out

Hugh Weibgen

80.00

b Kerr

Chris Green

107.14

b Edwards

George Garton

66.67

b Kerr

Nathan McAndrew

271.43

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 3, NB: 0, W: 1)

TOTAL

(18.5 Ov, RR: 8.34)

157/6

Did not Bat

Tom Andrews, Wes Agar, Tanveer Sangha

Bowlers

EXT

Ben Dwarshuis

2.5

14.12

Hayden Kerr

8.75

Mitchell Perry

7.33

Jack Edwards

6.33

Ben Manenti

8.00

Jafer Chohan

5.50

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

David Warner

c Edwards b Perry

1-29

2.4

Jason Sangha

c Edwards b Chohan

2-65

7.5

Matthew Gilkes

runout (Edwards / Kerr)

3-72

8.4

Hugh Weibgen

b Kerr

4-100

12.5

Chris Green

b Edwards

5-128

16.5

George Garton

b Kerr

6-131

17.3

Match Info

Date & Time

24 Jan, 01:45 PM IST

Venue

Sydney Cricket Ground

Match

Challenger,

Big Bash League

Umpires

Donovan Koch (Australia), Sam Nogajski (Australia), Phillip Gillespie (Australia, TV)

Referee

Steve Davis (Australia)

Toss

Sydney Thunder elected to bowl

0 0 1 1 4 2

Over 16

Runs: 8

2 2 1 2 W 1

Over 17

Runs: 8

1 1 W 0 3 6

Over 18

Runs: 11

4 0 4 1wd 2 6

Over 19

Runs: 17

All Overs

Player of the Match Sam Billings

42(29)

Commentary

10:50 PM Local time (5:20 PM IST): The Sydney Thunder have qualified for the final of the BBL 24/25 and will take on the Hobart Hurricanes away at Ninja Stadium in Hobart on Monday, January 27. The Thunder's win against the Sixers has not been a comprehensive one, but nevertheless, it is a win to take them to the finals after a long wait of nine years. For now, I, Keshav, on behalf of my colleague, Sourabh, bid you adieu. We hope to see you again soon; until then, goodbye.

Sam Billings (Player Of The Match): "Great performance again. Don't think we played our perfect game, think we are saving it for Monday. The bowlers set the tone for us, we knew they would come back at us. But we managed to go through, that's what we have done all tournament. The great thing about this tournament we have played a couple of finals in the last week, in different conditions. His (talking about Warner) energy is infectious, you get to learn a lot while playing with him, we have won another one without him making a significant contribution, he has played and led brilliantly. We know we will be up against the best team in the competition and it is all to play for. Looking forward."

10:31 PM Local time (5:01 PM IST): Sydney Thunder progress to the final against Hobart Hurricanes

Match Summary: Sydney Thunder: 157/6 (18.5 overs) | Sydney Sixers: 151/7 (20 overs)

Sam Billings: 42* (29) | Hayden Kerr: 2/35 (4)
Jordan Silk: 43* (30) | Tom Andrew: 2/15 (2)

The Sydney Thunder are into the finals of the Big Bash League after a long period of nine years. They will face the Hobart Hurricanes at the Ninja Stadium in Hobart on Monday. The win against the city counterparts has come with seven deliveries remaining and not without hiccups.

Sam Billings, the wicketkeeper batter, held on to one end even as wickets kept falling at regular intervals on the other end. However, the two openers, David Warner and Jason Sangha, gave a blistering start to their side with 35/1 in the first four overs. Matthew Gilkes added 36 runs for the second wicket with Jason Sangha, who fell prey to Jafer Chohan's flighted delivery and was caught at deep square leg in an attempt to sweep for a maximum. Soon after, Gilkes was run out as he called for a second run where it should have been just a single. At this point, the Thunder looked under pressure, but Sam Billings exuded maturity by taking singles and doubles to keep the scoreboard running.

Billings two small partnerships with Weibgen and Chris Green proved crucial. What else worked in the Thunder's favour was activating the Power Surge in the 17th over. Nathan McAndrew played a flurry of shots and finished in style with a maximum.

Now let's talk about what cost the Sixers the game in the second innings. Firstly, they started off poorly in the powerplay, conceding boundaries across the park, and that gave a good start to David Warner and co. Secondly, they slacked in fielding today and missed a couple of clear-cut run-out chances for the Thunder to keep sailing towards the target. Moreover, they lacked wicket-taking bowlers on the day when it mattered the most. Although they had only 13 players to choose from as a result of international duties and injuries, they would take this as a positive.

18.5 Ben Dwarshuis to Nathan McAndrew, GAME, SET AND MATCH FOR THE THUNDER. IT WILL BE THUNDER VS HURRICANES IN THE BBL FINAL.
A slot delivery on the stumps and McAndrew makes room to pump it all the way over the bowler's head for a big six and that seals the spot for the Thunder in the BBL final, only for the second time in BBL history.

18.4 Ben Dwarshuis to Nathan McAndrew, SCORES LEVEL, fuller at the stumps, McAndrew makes room again and lofts it over the off-side, not timed well enough but enough to clear the circle for two more

18.4 Ben Dwarshuis to Nathan McAndrew, angled down the leg side and McAndrew misses the clip, WIDE called

18.3 Ben Dwarshuis to Nathan McAndrew, FOUR MORE, just one hit away now for Thunder! Width on offer and McAndrew slaps that over mid-off and that is another boundary for him, what is he doing so low down the order?

18.2 Ben Dwarshuis to Nathan McAndrew, short of a length angling across, McAndrew swings and misses

18.1 Ben Dwarshuis to Nathan McAndrew, FOUR, Thunder are now cruising towards the final. Short of a length at the stumps, McAndrew swipes across the line and drags it behind square on the leg side and that races away to the fence.

Ben Dwarshuis [2-0-23-0] is back into the attack

The first Power Surge over would have went Kerr's way with the wicket of Garton and just five runs off the five deliveries. However, Sam Billings is still in the middle and he whacked a maximum over mid-wicket to turn it into his team's favour. 12 runs needed off 12 deliveries for the Sydney Thunder to go into the finals of the BBL 2024/25.

overs

140 /6 score

runs

Sam Billings *

42 (29)

Nathan McAndrew

3 (2)

Hayden Kerr

2 /35

17.6 Hayden Kerr to Sam Billings, BILLINGS GOES BIG, that is a telling blow from the Englishman and he might have just sealed the deal for the Thunder. Gets the slot ball, clears his front leg and thumps that a long way over mid-wicket. The Thunder dugout applaud and there are dropped shoulders in the Sixers' camp

17.5 Hayden Kerr to Nathan McAndrew, UP AND OVER, walks down again and this time swings it with a cross-batted shot straight back over the bowler's head. Sixer's captain Henriques gives it a big chase from mid-on and puts in the dive to just about keep it inside the play, saves a run for his team.

17.4 Hayden Kerr to Nathan McAndrew, short of a length at the stumps, McAndrew gives the charge and cross-bats it on the bounce to short mid-wicket who is really close in, he has a shy at the non-striker's end but misses and that might have been tight had he hit

Nathan McAndrew, RHB, walks out to the crease

The game is swinging on its head and Sam Billings is frustrated on the non-striker's end as Kerr strikes the stumps to send Garton back to the hut. WHAT A THRILLER this is turning out to be.

17.3 Hayden Kerr to George Garton, STUMPS RATTLED AGAIN, Kerr gives Garton the send-off too and the Sixers are refusing to give up. Full and straight, Garton looks for the big swing across the line and misses it completely, hears the death rattle behind him. Is there still life left in this?

George Garton b Hayden Kerr 2 (3b, 0x4, 0x6)

17.2 Hayden Kerr to Sam Billings, MISSES OUT, slow and short at the leg stump, Billings smacks the pull hard but straight to the man at deep square leg all along the ground

17.1 Hayden Kerr to George Garton, full at off, Garton dinks that straight to the man at cover and they somehow get home safely for the single, Billings on strike now

COMMENTARY NOT AVAILABLE