Moises Henriques emerged from a slump as Sydney Sixers extended their lead against Melbourne Stars to seven wickets at the SCG.
Henriques Powers Sixers home in tight chase
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Sixers’ chase of 151 was difficult on a surface with uneven bounce and speed, but Henriques turned back the clock to lead the home side to victory with five balls to spare. It was their seventh consecutive victory against the Stars, who have a 1-3 record this season. Henriques returns to form The Sixers’ sluggish start to the season has been largely attributed to their ineffective batting order. Kurtis Patterson and James Vince were eager to make apologies with promising starts, but they both dropped in short succession, leaving the Sixers in a precarious position at 3 for 63 at the halfway mark.
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Henriques has been a fulcrum for the Sixers for years, but he entered the meeting with straight golden ducks. He scored on his first delivery, bringing his usual calm back to spearhead the Sixers’ charge. Henriques was chained at times, particularly by legspinner Adam Zampa, but he held his calm with Jordan Silk, who had also made a duck in the previous match against the Hobart Hurricanes. Henriques raced in the back end, hitting a six in the last over to virtually seal the game. It was the Sixers’ first half-century of the season.
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Stars bemoan shoddy fielding
There was a lot of speculation about how the Stars’ offense would rebound after allowing the third-highest BBL total in their huge loss to the Perth Scorchers. Coach David Hussey was critical of his team’s demeanor, and with his words ringing in their ears, the Stars’ offense put in a much greater effort, but it wasn’t enough. Sloppy fielding didn’t assist the bowlers, and they’ll remember Joe Clarke’s missed catch off Zampa in the 15th over to save Henriques. seamer and Zampa Luke Wood did their best with sparing bowling but lacked help in a Stars attack devoid of fast bowlers. Colter-Nile, Nathan.
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O’Keefe is battling a hamstring problem.
Steve O’Keefe’s love affair with the SCG continues as he played a major part in the Sixers’ thrilling triumph against the Hurricanes last week to break their duck this season. With the wicket of Tom Rogers on the second ball against Stars, the 38-year-old demonstrated why he is depended on to begin the bowling. But tragedy came later in the over when O’Keefe gripped his right hamstring and had to leave the field for treatment. He returned quickly but was plainly handicapped, walking around the field. Beau Webster celebrates Kurtis Patterson’s wicket during Sydney Sixers versus Melbourne Stars, Big Bash League 2022-23, December 26, 2022, Sydney.
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O’Keefe coming into the attack
Fortunately, the pain didn’t impact his bowling with O’Keefe coming into the attack in the sixth over and continuing his nagging length to frustrate big hitters Clarke and Beau Webster, who could only produce four singles off the over. Quite plainly requiring additional medical treatment, O’Keefe had to get through his remaining overs fast and he didn’t disappoint to end with 1 for 16 from four overs. O’Keefe gathered all his expertise to bowl properly under evident agony and he definitely remains a crucial element of the Sixers’ assault. They will sweat about the seriousness of his hamstring strain.
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Webster anchors shorthanded Stars
Stars suffered a big setback with Marcus Stoinis sidelined for the contest to severely weaken a batting order already losing Glenn Maxwell and Joe Burns to long-term ailments After being brought in, Stars were in severe danger at 2 for 8 and they needed Clarke to fire with the ‘keeper-batter the only player to have reached a century this season. He looked the goods when he hammered wayward seamer Sean Abbott for two sixes in the third over before falling for 27. It was left to Webster, who has threatened this season for a huge touchdown without capitalizing.
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On this occasion, he was up to the challenge with a mature knock to dig Stars out of trouble. Webster initially largely played along the ground before hitting a tremendous six over square leg off seamer Hayden Kerr to smash the ceiling. With his confidence increasing, Webster made his move in the 17th and 18th overs as Stars scored 24 runs during the power surge. In his 47th BBL innings, Webster moved above 1000 career runs and along the way hit his career-high score of 78 off 51 balls to push Stars to a competitive total but it ultimately wasn’t enough.
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