Brisbane rolled for 73, their lowest-ever BBL tally, as the Sixers cruise to a nine-wicket win
Heat doused after record low total
The score: Brisbane Heat 73 (Alex Ross 15; Sean Abbott 4-11, Nathan Lyon 2-17) lost to Sydney Sixers 1-74 (Daniel Hughes 37, Joe Denly 19no; Yasir Shah 1-37)
Match in a tweet: Sixers soar to third consecutive win as the Heat flounder on a forgettable night for Brendon McCullum’s men at the SCG #BBL07
The hero: Sean Abbott grabbed 4-11 for the Sydney Sixers in a magnificent spell of bowling in his best performance of BBL|07. Remarkably, Abbott conceded 0-6 from his first seven balls before netting 4-5 from his remaining 17 deliveries. He removed Alex Ross and Jimmy Peirson in the ninth over, just as the pair appeared poised to rebuild the Heat’s innings after they lost three wickets in the first 20 balls of their innings, before later dismissing Jason Floros and Mark Steketee. Abbott has 13 wickets for the tournament after being the competition’s leading wicket-taker in BBL|06.
The support cast: Star off-spinner Nathan Lyon has made an immediate impact for the Sixers following Australia’s successful Magellan Ashes campaign. The Sixers have won all three games Lyon played in, with the country’s leading slow bowler grabbing six wickets at 9.83 apiece and conceding only 4.91 runs per over. Tonight Lyon was as reliable as ever, grabbing 2-17 from his four overs as the Heat suffered a crushing defeat. Daniel Hughes continued his good form with a knock of 37, backing up scores of 49no, 66no and 33 in his previous three hits.
The consolation effort: Hard to find any positives for the Heat, but Yasir Shah took the scalp of the in-form Hughes and finished with 1-37 from four overs, giving the star Pakistan leg-spinner five wickets from six matches.
The moment: With star batsmen Joe Burns and Chris Lynn missing because of injury, much responsibility rested with Heat skipper Brendon McCullum, but the former New Zealand skipper was one of seven Heat batsmen to register single figures as he fell for only one as he fell in the second over. It was all downhill from there and the loss could scupper the club’s finals ambitions, leaving them with a 4-5 win-loss record.
The stat: The Heat’s paltry total of 73 was their lowest in BBL history. The Heat hit only six boundaries and were bowled out in 16.4 overs, with just four batsmen reaching double figures. The Heat’s previous lowest score was 80 against the Melbourne Renegades in BBL|04, while they also struggled with the bat in their New Year’s Eve clash against the Adelaide Strikers, when they were blasted out for only 91 in a 56-run loss.
The dance: We’re not sure how to describe this! Sydney Sixers allrounder Carlos Brathwaite has attracted attention for his dab celebration, but the West Indian showed off something new after bowling Yasir at the SCG.
The fantasy wrap: Abbott ($60,700) scored a massive 115, while Lyon ($87,600) returned 85 points and Brathwaite ($80,500) 69.
The next stops: The Sixers will be chasing their fourth consecutive victory when they meet the Melbourne Stars at the SCG on Tuesday, while the Heat will tackle the Melbourne Renegades in their final match of the regular season on January 27.
.@SixersBBL XI: Joe Denly, Daniel Hughes, Nic Maddinson, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Carlos Brathwaite, Johan Botha (c), Peter Nevill (wk), Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Lyon #BBL07%E2%80%94 KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 18, 2018
.@HeatBBL XI: Brendon McCullum (c), Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jason Floros, Mark Steketee, Josh Lalor, Yasir Shah, Mitchell Swepson #BBL07%E2%80%94 KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 18, 2018