Big Bash League: Josh Hazlewood proves hero as Sydney Sixers knock over Adelaide Strikers yet again
Josh Hazlewood played the unlikely hero with the bat as Sydney Sixers survived a Rashid Khan hat-trick to continue on their winning ways in the Big Bash League.
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The Sydney Sixers aren’t joshing about their Big bash title chances anymore after rebounding from a Rashid Khan hat-trick in Wednesday’s astonishing two-wicket win over the Adelaide Strikers.
Josh Hazlewood was the unlikely hero with the bat, whacking three successive fours on his 29th birthday to seal victory with eight balls to spare after the Strikers looked poised to pinch victory after Khan’s hat-trick.
The Afghan leg spinner isn’t just making fools of opposition batsmen, he’s bamboozling the umpires as well now.
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That’s the only explanation for how Jack Edwards – Khan’s second victim – was given out lbw to a ball that struck him in line with leg stumps but was spinning off target, as the replays clearly showed.
With DRS unavailable in BBL, Edwards had to go and Khan, who had James Vince caught behind for 27, completed just the fifth BBL hat-trick ever with the first delivery of his final over, bowling Jordan Silk for 16 with a perfect googly, though the Sixers got the last laugh by recovering to win the match.
BEST IS YET TO COME
Rated longshots at the start of the season, the Sixers have now virtually sewn up their place in the semi-finals with their fifth win on the trot and their big guns all set to return for the business end of the season.
With English all-rounder Tom Curran taking a BBL-best 4-22 and the two Josh’s – Hazlewood and Philippe – combining in the field, the Sixers mopped up the last seven Adelaide wickets for just 25 runs to bowl the home side out for just 135.
HIGHER HONOURS
Man of the match in Coffs Harbour after blazing an unbeaten 83, Philippe made only eight with the bat this time but took three catches to become the Sixers most successful wicketkeeper of all time, with 21 dismissals.
Hazlewood, who rejoined the Sixers for two matches, has already become an instant fan of the 22-year-old and jumped on the bandwagon tipping him to play for Australia.
“I haven’t spent a lot of time with Flip but he’s a class act and he’s learning every game,” Hazlewood said.
“He’s a phenomenal talent and I’ll expect he’ll just gets better. If he keeps dominating this level as he is this year and has done, he’s certainly got the talent to go to the next level and I hope he does.”
HOFF IMPRESSES AGAIN
One of Philippe’s catches was off the bowling off Hazlewood, who took 1-19 before he heads to India with the Australian one-day team.
He’ll be back for the tailend of the season to push claims for a spot in the Australian squad for this year’s T20 World Cup and Sixers coach Greg Shipperd reckons he’s already shown enough to warrant selection after playing just his second T20 match in four years.
“He was a standout and glad to have him and giving himself a chance to show the Australian selectors what he’s got to offer for a T20 World Cup,” Shipperd said.
“I think that’s the point of the exercise for him and for us and we’re happy to be a vehicle to support that.”
BIG GUNS TO RETURN
When Hazlewood does return, he’ll be bringing Steve Smith back with him while the Sixers have got some other heavy artillery to come back sooner.
The captain, Moises Henriques, missed the two matches against the Strikers to be with his wife Krista for the birth of their son, Archie, but could be back as soon as the team’s next match, against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Sunday.
Nathan Lyon is also set to return, most likely on January 18 for the Sydney Smash against the Thunder, once the GOAT recovers from his minor thumb injury, while paceman Sean Abbott is making steady improvement from a side strain.
“We’ve played really well the last few matches. We had a challenge, we lost two back to back, in games two and three, and our recent history tells us we haven’t lost three in a row so the boys have rebounded well,” Shipperd said.
“We’ve played some good cricket and won the important moments and right across the board we’ve had some episodes of fantastic batting and some very good defensive bowling.”