Sam Konstas completed another lap on the seemingly endless emotional rollercoaster he’s been on all summer with the teen sensation dismissed for a third-ball duck just a day after he was picked in the Australian squad, with a former Test opener upstaging his young teammate as the Sixers stole the Sydney Smash with a remarkable final-ball win.
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MATCH CENTRE: Thunder vs Sixers scorecard, updates and more
Moises Henriques joked last week that it was “an easy two points for us normally” when the Sixers played the Thunder, and he was sort of right with the men in magenta continuing their dominant record, albeit in dramatic circumstances.
Needing 15 off the final over to chase down the Thunder’s total of 5/163, a couple of crucial wides gave the Sixers a sniff, with Ben Dwarshuis (20 off eight) then launching a Chris Green ball into orbit with his side needing seven off two.
The Thunder brought the field up but it was to no avail as Jordan Silk scampered through for a single to get the Sixers home by five wickets.
The Thunder were their own worst enemies and were guilty of the howler of the season when a simple chance landed between Tanveer Sangha and Sam Billings who both looked at each other feeling equally sheepish.
TRIPLE TREAT
David Warner whacked Sean Abbott’s first delivery for six, but he was sent packing next ball to continue his slow start to the tournament.
It was left to a couple of other Thunder batters to pick up the slack, with Ollie Davies blasting 47 off 35 including three massive sixes to welcome Todd Murphy into the attack.
But it was Cameron Bancroft who anchored the innings with an unbeaten 70 off 52 as the forgotten man in the Test conversation sent a subtle reminder to selectors that he should still be in the mix.
Bancroft has fallen out of favour following a slow start to the Sheffield Shield season but showed he’s far from a spent force with three sixes in his classy knock.
HOW DO YOU MESS THAT UP?
The Sydney Thunder enjoyed two great run outs in the Sydney Smash, but their dropped catches proved costly, with the third described as “village cricket”.
Moises Henriques was given the ultimate gift when he skied a chance – only to have both Sam Billings and Tanveer Sangha stand there looking at each other as the ball hit the grass.
“Oh no! oh no! Billings said Sangha, Sangha said Billings. It was village cricket in the end, how lucky can you be?” Mark Howard said on Fox Cricket.
Thunder star David Warner was clearly left filthy with the mix up as he slapped the ball away.
“Davey Warner not happy and rightfully so. That’s just a gift wicket handed back to the Sixers,” commentator Mark Waugh said.
“That’s Billings’ catch but Sangha put him off?
“It was two steps for Billings.”
It wasn’t the only gift wicket to go begging after Ollie Davies dropped Josh Philippe on 3 – and then watched as the ball went for six.
“Jeez that’s costly. You’ve got to catch that,” Waugh lamented.
“He had a good look at it right on the boundary.
“It should have been taken.
“Yeah, it was going hard but it was straight at him.
“You should be taking that at this level.”
Philippe got another life the next ball – but this time it was a much-harder one-handed attempt by Nathan McAndrew that went to grass.
CLOCK WOUND BACK
Veteran David Warner has turned the Sydney Smash on its head with a remarkable piece of fielding on Saturday night.
Warner went with the one hand to grab the ball, turn and throw – with his direct hit leaving Sixer Jack Edwards well short of his ground.
“He’s pretty confident D. Warner. Blowing kisses to the crowd, toffing his cap if you don’t mind,” Fox Cricket’s Mark Howard said.
“It’s a great bit of fielding,” Mark Waugh added.
“Big wicket just after the (midway) break.
“It was a pretty ordinary call from Moises (Henriques) – pretty much hit it straight to David Warner who has done the rest.”
Warner’s teammate Chris Green was happy with what he witnessed.
“He enjoyed that one didn’t he?” he laughed.
“Those moments in T20 cricket can turn the game on its head.”
Earlier, Australia’s likely next Test opener Sam Konstas was looking to follow up his record-setting Big Bash League debut in style as he and the Thunder face their rivals the Sixers in the Sydney Smash.
But he chopped on for a third-ball duck leaving the hosts 1-1.
SKIP’S FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Moises Henriques was forced to eat his words after taking a “gamble” that backfired spectacularly in the Sydney Smash.
The skipper could be heard on Fox Cricket’s mic leaving the off-side open for Thunder star Ollie Davies facing off spinner Todd Murphy.
When asked to explain the move moments before the eighth over, Henriques was frank.
“Ollie loves to hit spin through the off side. He loves to hit balls where the fielders aren’t,” he explained.
“He really makes a point of trying to embarrass the opposition captain.
“So hopefully he doesn’t right now.”
But that hope faded seconds later when Davies launched Murphy over the rope for six.
And he wasn’t done there, launching the next two deliveries – including one going 98m – into the stands.
“He’s made his point there, Ollie Davies,” Fox Cricket’s commentator Mark Waugh praised.
The Thunder took 20 off the Murphy over to turn the match in their favour.
Back on the mic for Fox Cricket, Henriques was quick to shoulder the blame for the disastrous over.
“If anything … that was my bad call,” he said.
“Ollie is a very good player of off spin. We’d built a bit of pressure on the two (Davies and Cam Bancroft down the other end).
“It was a bit of a gamble bringing (Murphy) on.
“I obviously wasn’t expecting three sixes in the first three balls.
“Part of that is on me really.
“There’s only so much an off spinner can do when Ollie is a very good player of off spin and he moves his feet very well.”
Injured Thunder star Nic Maddinson was impressed by what he saw from Davies as he picked his moment to strike.
“You’ve got to find a moment in the game to take on a match-up that you think is yours. He did that today,” he said.
“Right arm off spinner coming on to Ollie who plays spin reasonably well.
“He took his opportunity and it’s great to see.”
Great for Thunder fans. Sixers? Not so much.
Follow Thunder vs Sixers in our live blog below!
The match got underway at 7:15pm AEDT from ENGIE Stadium.
Sydney Thunder squad: David Warner (c), Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings, Ollie Davies, Lockie Ferguson, Chris Green, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Andrews, Sherfane Rutherford, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha
Sydney Sixers squad: Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Kurtis Patterson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Lachlan Shaw, Jordan Silk, James Vince
