James Vince brought up his half-century off 36 balls © Getty Images
Sydney Sixers 1 for 173 (Philippe 86*, Vince 74*) beat Hobart Hurricanes 4 for 172 (Wade 64, Dwarshuis 1-25) by nine wickets
A record-breaking partnership between Josh Philippe and James Vince led the Sydney Sixers to a thumping win over BBL leaders Hobart Hurricanes at the SCG.
Philippe, the 21-year-old tyro, and Vince, the wily English pro, broke all manner of records as they mowed down a target of 173 with nine wickets and 17 balls to spare.
The pair came together at 1 for 6 in the first over and put on an unbroken 167 in just 16.3 overs. It was a new record partnership for Sixers franchise, the fourth highest in BBL history and the highest second-wicket stand in the eight years of the competition. Philippe, whose previous best in T20s was 30 not out, batted through the chase, making 86 not out from just 49 balls with nine fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, Vince made 74 not out, his second straight score of 70-plus.
Earlier, the Hurricanes’ total of 4 for 172 looked competitive on a turning SCG track but ended up being well under par. Matthew Wade made yet another half-century and put on another half-century stand with D’Arcy Short. But they battled to get the Sixers spinners Ben Manenti and Steve O’Keefe away in the middle overs, and without a late cameo from George Bailey may well have fallen short of 170.
1 for 225
Wade and Short just continued from their unbroken 158-run stand to beat the Adelaide Strikers none down. There was sharp spin in the opening over from Manenti, which meant caution was required early. But they found their groove yet again. They were simply flawless while keeping the rate above eight by targeting the pace of Tom Curran and Sean Abbott with five boundaries in the last three overs to get to 0 for 49 after six overs. It was the fifth time in 10 games they did not lose a wicket in the Powerplay. They kicked on to their ninth 50-plus partnership in the BBL, and the total partnership across the last two games reached 225 before Short holed out at deep midwicket.
Better Bailey than never
Wade reached fifty and was involved in some verbal niggle with Tom Curran and Moises Henriques. But while a 67-run stand between Wade and Ben McDermott appeared to be putting the Hurricanes in a powerful position, the run-rate slipped under eight as the spin of Manenti and O’Keefe proved hard to collar.
Full report to follow…
Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Melbourne
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo