Big Bash: Josh Philippe jumps to the top of run-scorers list with stunning MCG innings

No player in BBL history has passed 80 more times without making 100 than Josh Philippe, but the elusive milestone is sure to fall soon.

Josh Philippe on his way to 99 not out at the MCG. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Josh Philippe said a century never crossed his mind despite falling agonisingly short of an elusive milestone as he stamped his Big Bash authority for the Sydney Sixers on Wednesday night.

The player of the tournament last season, Philippe pounded a matchwinning 99 not out against the Melbourne Stars to jump to the top of the run-scorers list this year with 259 from just four matches, including three 50s.

But neither Philippe or any Sixers batter has ever scored a century, a stat the 24-year-old said the batting contingent were well aware of.

Philippe has passed 80 seven times in the BBL without getting to 100, the most of any player in the tournament’s history.

But the brilliant right-hander, who has played T20 cricket for Australia, put team goals first at the MCG.

“A hundred certainly wasn’t going through my mind,” Philippe said.

“I wanted Silky (Jordan Silk) to get it done the over before to be honest. It’s still a bit of a drought us Sixers boys have to keep chasing.”

There’s no stopping Josh Philippe. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Philippe’s innings came after a brilliant century from Stars skipper Glenn Maxwell, who belted his first BBL hundred, making 103 off just 57 balls.

The electric pair could find themselves in the same Australian white-ball team more often than not in coming series, but Philippe said the innings, his highest BBL score, wasn’t his best knock.

“It felt like it wasn’t the most fluent innings. There were times where I felt like they were bowling well and it was hard to hit boundaries (but) then I’d hit a few boundaries,” he said.

Josh Philippe the 25th player to score 1,500 @BBL runs
Fewest balls faced to clock up 1,500 runs
954 - Chris Lynn
981 - Glenn Maxwell
991 - Alex Hales
1031 - D'Arcy Short
1036 - JOSH PHILIPPE

@SixersBBL#MSvSS#BBL11

— Swamp (@sirswampthing) December 15, 2021

“I was very well supported by the boys coming in because they always hit a few boundaries when they first came out there and continued to take the pressure off and kept ticking along at the correct rate, so there wasn’t too much panic at all.”

The win propelled the reigning champion Sixers (3-1) back on top of the BBL table, but they will have to progress without veteran spinner Steve O’Keefe, who suffered a calf strain.

The Sixers next face the Adelaide Strikers on Tuesday at home, while the Stars travel to Tasmania to take on the Hobart Hurricanes on Christmas Eve.

Originally published as Big Bash: Josh Philippe jumps to the top of run-scorers list with stunning MCG innings