Sixers’ famous Sydney Smash win soured by Sean Abbott injury
James Vince and Steve O’Keefe have been cleared to return following Sydney Sixers’ incredible derby victory, but the news isn’t as good the competition’s leading wicket-taker.
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Strike bowler Sean Abbott faces an anxious wait before knowing when he can resume playing again after picking up an injury in the Sydney Sixers’ astonishing win over the Thunder that has set the Big Bash competition alight.
The tournament’s leading wicket taker with 11 scalps, Abbott was unable to take part in the nerve wracking Super Over after straining his left side so will undergo tests in the next 48 hours to determine when he can play again.
His injury was the only dampener on a stunning performance from the Sixers that catapulted the men in magenta to the top of the BBL standings after one of the most dramatic games in the tournament’s history.
For the 35,000 plus who packed into the SCG, it was a night that had everything – monster hitting, outrageous shots, mesmerising bowling and brilliant fielding and escalating tension that became unbearable at the end.
“It certainly was a bit of a roller coaster,” the Sixers captain Moises Henriques told The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s so nice to win those close games because you know how easily it could have gone the other way but at the same time, I still feel we had every right to win that game if we’d batted a little smarter earlier so had we lost, it would have been very disappointing.”
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In some good news on the injury front for the high-flying Sixers, X-rays have cleared English import James Vince of any structural damage after he was forced to withdraw from the match at the last minute when he was struck on the elbow in the warm-up.
And veteran spinner Steve O’Keefe, who has missed the last three matches because of a calf problem, has been given the green light for the team’s next match against the Renegades in Melbourne on Thursday.
While English all rounder Tom Curran was named man of the match and received most of the plaudits, it was the Sydney skipper’s cool head that proved decisive with the game in the balance and the result fluctuating with each delivery.
The unflappable Henriques top scored for the Sixers with 41 – including a massive six that went into the second level of the Members’ Stand – then another physics-defying maximum in the Super Over – when he played a reverse ramp off the back off his bat that sailed over the third man rope.
Curran played the finishing role to perfection, clubbing 35 off 17 balls including 16 off the last over to force the Super Over after the teams finished their 20 overs tied on 149.
Then with the white leather in his hand, Curran held his nerve to restrict the Thunder to 15 runs in the Super Over for a one run win after the Sixers made 16.
“I thought the Super Over was a bit of a bonus for us, given how many we needed off the last over, because more often than not you don’t get them but Tommy batted great,” Henriques said.
“I also thought he bowled absolutely beautifully. He executed his plan perfectly, landing five out of six yorkers. I think he’s the best yorker bowler going around and one of the best closer there is, which is why we signed him.”