Sydney Sixers 172 for 5 (Henriques 53*, Vince 40, Sutherland 2-20) beat Melbourne Renegades 169 for 7 (Seifert 55, Sutherland 36*, Abbott 2-34, Dwarshuis 2-42) by five wickets
Chasing a tricky 170, Sixers wobbled in the middle overs before Henriques took over with an unbeaten 53 from 27 balls as the home team hauled in the target with nine balls to spare.
The result could have been much different had Henriques been run out on 25 but Tom Rogers’ throw from midwicket was wide.
Sixers, a BBL powerhouse who lost a home final last season, continued their long-time dominance over Renegades. It was their ninth win from ten games between the teams since 2018 with the other game being a no result.
Edwards’ promotion, Henriques finishes
It appeared a challenging chase on a ground where 150-160 has often proven enough in BBL games over the years.
Edwards made the most of his promotion to No.3 after Dan Hughes injured his arm while attempting a diving catch during Renegades’ innings. His placement was superb as he combined well with Vince in a 62-run partnership.
But he holed out to quick Kane Richardson to fall short of a maiden BBL half-century as Sixers soon fell to 136 for 5 when Hayden Kerr had to retire after an apparent hamstring injury.
Sixers still needed 34 runs off the final four overs, but Henriques wisely took the power surge and he smashed legspinner Adam Zampa for two sixes in the 18th over to effectively ice the game.
Henriques and Ben Dwarshuis were in a rush as they finished the job far easier than had looked possible just moments earlier.
Hassan impresses in BBL debut
He recovered from early punishment and settled to showcase his variety as he mixed up his speed nicely. Hassan dismissed Jordan Silk, so reliable in the middle overs for Sixers, with a 72 kmh delivery as he helped put Renegades in a winning position.
He finished with 1 for 27 from three overs in a performance to build on for Hassan, who plays for San Francisco Unicorns in MLC.
Sixers’ attack rely on experience to fight back
After being thrashed in the powerplay, Sixers’ veteran attack relied on their experience to pull Renegades back.
They’ve long mastered conditions at the SCG, where the spongy surface can make batting difficult, as Dwarshuis, Kerr and Sean Abbott mixed up their pace to help get Sixers back into the contest.
They bowled into the wicket and made use of a ball softening after the powerplay. It wasn’t a perfect performance with the quicks unusually expensive, but Sixers left-arm spinner Joel Davies stepped up and bowled well from around the wicket to finish with 1 for 24 from 4 overs.
Seifert overshadows fellow recruits
After a disappointing seventh-placed finish last season, Renegades transitioned their roster following the departures of stalwarts Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh and Nic Maddinson.
All eyes were on the dynamic opening combination of Brown and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who did not disappoint with a first ball boundary off Dwarshuis that was laced through point.
Fraser-McGurk was keen to shake off his struggles in the recent white-ball series against Pakistan and connected on a length delivery from Edwards in the second over for a huge six down the ground.
He raced to 21 until on his 12th delivery he was deceived by Abbott, who on his first ball cunningly unfurled a subtle change of pace.
Brown had little of the strike to that point until taking over with the type of belligerent batting that lit up last season’s finals series. But he contributed a similarly teasing knock to Fraser-McGurk – hitting 22 off ten – as Renegades, who had smashed 44 in the powerplay, stumbled in the middle overs with Evans and Hassan falling cheaply.
In contrast to Renegades other new recruits, Seifert paced his innings well to top-score with 55 off 42 balls and shared a 50-run partnership with Sutherland, who had a successful return after a side strain had kept him out of action since early November.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
