Sydney Thunder won by 30 runs: Sydney Thunder 158/4 (20.0 overs) v Sydney Sixers 128/10 (19.5 overs)
Sydney Thunder Innings – Sydney Thunder Batting
- The Thunder innings progressed steadily across the first 10 overs. Despite scoring 13 runs off the first over thanks to 3 boundaries (1 from Kallis and 2 from Blizzard), only one more over in the first half of the innings went for double figures
- Kallis, Watson and Hussey remained patient in the face of some good bowling and there were still 8 wickets in hand at the end of the 10th over with the score at 2/61
- Over the next 3 overs however, the loss of Watson’s wicket and the addition of just 23 runs saw the match in the balance with the score at 3/84 off 13 overs
- The last 7 overs however saw the Thunder pile on 74 runs led by Michael Hussey who finished the innings with a WPA of 18% which almost single handedly had the Thunder as slight favourites heading into the Sixers inning
Sydney Thunder Innings – Sydney Sixers Bowling:
- Doug Bollinger started the innings well for the Sixers taking a wicket in his first over and completing his 2 over spell with the excellent figures of 1 for 9
- While Bird was expensive early, solid contributions from Bollinger, Botha and Lyon kept the Thunder batsmen in check and keeping the Sixers well in the game despite not making any incisive inroads into the Thunder batting line up
- In the final 7 overs, Bollinger and Botha bore the brunt of Hussey’s thunder while Lawford covered well for an out of sorts Bird to take 1 for 12 off his two overs
Sydney Sixers Innings – Sydney Sixers Batting:
- The Sydney Sixers started their inning strongly with both Haddin and Lumb taking it to the Thunder bowlers. At the end of the 3rd over the score was 0 for 28 and the match had well and truly swung back in favour of the Sixers
- However from the loss of Haddin half way through the 4th over the chase started to fall over. Lumb watched the in form Maddinson fall cheaply to Russell and then Silk to Watson. By the time Lumb was dismissed in the 11th over for an innings best WPA performance of 27%, the score was 4/73 and the Thunders win probability was at 65%
- The continual flow of wickets can be demonstrated by the fact that after Haddin’s dismissal, the longest partnership thereafter between wickets was no more than 3 overs
Sydney Sixers Innings – Sydney Thunder Bowling:
- With the exception of Sandhu, all the Thunder bowlers could be satisfied with their performances
- Russell was particularly impressive, taking the first two wickets and finishing with the figures of 4-1-13-3. His breakthroughs turned the match back in favour of the Thunder after the Sixers excellent start with the bat and appropriately he had the highest WPA of the Thunder bowlers (25%)
- Russell was well supported by Watson and McKay who finished with 3 and 2 wickets respectively. Both McKay and Russell finished with economy rates of less than 4 rpo
