The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
What promised to be a humdinger resulted in somewhat of a foregone conclusion. Ash Gardner pulled the Sixers from a tricky powerplay to a healthy 178/6 with a little help from her friends Ellyse Perry and Nicole Bolton along the way. The hitting was positively pure and ridiculous at times.
Thunder started off in borderline insane fashion with Beaumont and Litchfield playing with total freedom and more importantly, timing. They scurried through to 79/0 giving skipper Perry the sweats on a cool North Sydney evening. Then came Ecclestone who prized out the dangerous Beaumont with a proper fast darter, sliding underneath that high back-lift. From then on, it was a steady downslope.
Kate Peterson sealed the Thunder's fate with some clever pieces of off-pace and into-the-pitch bowling and even found herself on a hat-trick! It proved a bit too excessive for skipper Haynes in the end as the table-toppers showed why they are there.
Thanks for joining us! That's it from me, Vasisht and my co-commentator Mohul. Stay tuned for more live action right here on Sportskeeda.
Player of the game is Ash Gardner for her blazing 85 (48). She says that she decided to take on Lauren Smith which gave her the impetus to take on the other bowlers. She wasn't really feeling good up until the game and decided to just have some fun.
Sydney Sixers win by 18 runs
Tammy Beaumont 51 (32) | Phoebe Litchfield 31 (21) Kate Peterson 3/27 | Sophie Ecclestone 2/28
20
overs
178/6score
1
W
2
1
1
W
runs
Nicole Bolton
24(15)
Sophie Ecclestone*
3(3)
Sam Bates
3/21
19.6 Sophie Ecclestone to Lauren Smith, fullish outside off, Smith smashes it to deep cover for a run! The Sixers win by 18 runs!
19.5 Sophie Ecclestone to Rachael Haynes, tossed up on off, Haynes steps down and drills it to long on for a run.
19.4 Sophie Ecclestone to Rachael Haynes, FOUR! Short on middle and leg, Haynes rocks back and pulls this past deep square leg for a boundary!
19.3 Sophie Ecclestone to Rachael Haynes, MISSED CHANCE! Tossed up, Haynes steps down and slogs it to the deep midwicket region where Erin Burns makes a good effort to take the catch but somehow misses it! Couple taken.
19.2 Sophie Ecclestone to Lauren Smith, tossed up outside off, Smith steps down and drives it to long off for a run.
Cheatle snuffs out Johnson who was looking to cause panic among the Sixers. 28 needed from 6 balls. It will take a legitimate miracle here.
19.1 Sophie Ecclestone to Hannah Darlington, OUT! Booming yorker into the stumps, Darlington's bat comes down a tad too late and she loses her bails! That was an excellent delivery from Ecclestone! Hannah Darlington b Ecclestone 1 (2b 0x4 0x6)
19
overs
173/4score
1
6
1
1
6
6
runs
Ashleigh Gardner*
85(47)
Nicole Bolton
22(13)
Belinda Vakarewa
1/47
18.6 Lauren Cheatle to Rachael Haynes, slower delivery outside off, Haynes steps down the track and MISSES it!
18.5 Lauren Cheatle to Hannah Darlington, full on leg, Darlington gets it to square leg for a QUICK run.
18.4 Lauren Cheatle to Sammy-Jo Johnson, OUT! Coming from over the wicket this time, the ball goes across Johnson. The latter makes an attempt for a WILD SLOG but only gets a top edge that keeper Healy can run behind and take well enough!
Sammy-Jo Johnson c Healy b Cheatle 18 (14b 1x4 1x6 )
18.3 Lauren Cheatle to Sammy-Jo Johnson, SIX! Right in the slot coming from around the wicket and Johnson uses the arc beautifully to slog it over the cow country region for a MAXIMUM!
18.2 Lauren Cheatle to Sammy-Jo Johnson, FOUR! At a length on middle, Johnson swings at it and gets it past the deep midwicket fence, and is helped in no small manner by the MISFIELD!
18.1 Lauren Cheatle to Rachael Haynes, fullish on middle, Haynes slogs it to deep midwicket for a run.
Just 5 from the first of 2 power-surge overs. Two overs remain with 40 required. Unless Johnson decides to give the comm box a good ol' wind up, it will be a Sixers victory.