BBL: Melbourne Renegades beat Sydney Sixers by six wickets
So much for the theory that the home ground advantage will help the Sydney Sixers in the second half of the Big Bash season.
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So much for the theory that the home ground advantage will help the Sydney Sixers in the second half of the Big Bash season.
After spending the last three weeks on the road, the Sixers have been talking up their playoff credentials on the basis that almost all of their remaining games are at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Based on Wednesday night’s lame effort, they might want to leave town again pretty soon after making just 9-115 with the bat, their lowest score this season, in front of just 16,281 spectators.
The Renegades choked when they were chasing 133 to beat the Sixers in Melbourne last month but didn’t make that mistake again last night, cruising to victory with seven than overs to spare.
POWERPUFF
The Sixers’ powerplayer has been a disaster all the season but Wednesday night’s pathetic start to the innings made Chautauqua look like a jack in the box.
After the mandatory six overs with the field in, the Sixers had already lost three wickets, which has been par for the course in most games this season, but had only managed a season-low 20 runs.
At 6-64, the Sixers were struggling to avoid their lowest ever total in Big Bash history of 99.
They only managed to scrape past their lowest old low mark thanks to English all rounder Tom Curran who blasted 44 off only 30 balls.
He belted two sixes in the last over off Mohammad Nabi and needed another six off the last ball to get his 50 but missed his connection and was trapped lbw.
OLD TIMES
Nabi made a timely return to form after a horrible run in recent matches.
The Afghan spinner hadn’t bagged a single wicket in his last five BBL matches but mopped up the tail to finish with 4-25.
Kane Richardson did most of the damage at the top of the innings, taking 3-26, to move one behind Sixers’ tweaker Steve O’Keefe at the top of the wicket takers list with 14 for the season. With the win the Renegades moved into second place on a heavily congested ladder.
EASY RUNS
There were a few question marks being asked about the SCG wicket after a couple of balls kept low but the Renegades proved there was nothing wrong with the pitch as they cruised to victory without any trouble.
Opener Tom Cooper top scored with 49 from 33 deliveries, including a six off express bowler Sean Abbott which he whipped off his pads but his missed out on his half century and he stepped away to give himself some room and was bowled by O’Keefe, who took 2-23 to remain as top wicket taker this season.
EXPECTANT FATHER
As coach of the Australian women’s sevens rugby team, Ben Manenti’s father John gets his nerves tests every time his team runs out on the paddock.
But he said nothing has ever made him more nerves than watching his son playing for the Sixers even when he got man of the match on his debut in the first game against the Renegades.
Not only did John build a net in his backyard to help his kids train for cricket but he even forked out to buy them bowling machine.
“That was only because they made me bowl to them so much my arm got so sore,” he said.
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