Young gun Hayden Kerr has lifted a depleted Sydney Sixers into the BBL final, riding his luck in a career-best knock of 98 not out to secure a dramatic four-wicket win over Adelaide Strikers.
The Sixers, bidding for a third straight crown, will meet rivals Perth Scorchers in Friday night’s title-deciding match at Marvel Stadium.
And the men in magenta may ask the question about Steve Smith yet again after Steve O’Keefe (calf) and Jordan Silk (hamstring) both suffered injuries in the field at the SCG.
Sixers captain Moises Henriques, who scored 13 in a remarkable chase of 168 that Kerr finished in scarcely-believable fashion, also appeared bothered by a soft-tissue injury on night of incredible theatre.
Hayden Kerr of the Sixers celebrates hitting the winning runs with Jay Lenton of the Sixers during the Men’s Big Bash League match between the Sydney Sixers and the Adelaide Strikers at Sydney Cricket Ground, on January 26, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Jonathan Wells’ unbeaten 62 rallied Adelaide from 3-21 to 4-167 in the Challenger final.
Kerr underlined the hosts’ depth in response, carrying his bat as they reached 6-170.
Harry Conway, who was the final-over hero of the Strikers’ thrilling victory over Sydney Thunder on Sunday night, was asked to defend 12 runs in Wednesday night’s final over.
Conway started with the wicket of a well-set Sean Abbott for 41 but ended with Kerr’s 12th boundary.
There was no shortage of drama between.
A hobbled Silk walked to the middle, scored a single, watched Kerr wallop a six then retired hurt because the Sixers wanted a fully-fit body at the non-striker’s end for the final ball.
The move did not go down well with Adelaide captain Peter Siddle, while Adam Gilchrist opined on Fox Sports that “it’s probably not in the spirit of the game”.
Kerr benefited from two chances, having been dropped in the deep by Matthew Renshaw on 16 after Test keeper Alex Carey missed a stumping off the first ball of the innings.
The Sixers needed 58 runs from the final five overs but Kerr and Sean Abbott starred in the pressure-laden finish.
Kerr has enjoyed a coming-of-age summer, earning selection in the league’s team of the tournament voted on by coaches, but not even he could have foretold a stunning series of events.
The 25-year-old was promoted to open for the Sixers after their fresh bid for former skipper Smith to play was rejected despite Josh Philippe being an enforced omission because of COVID-19.
Daniel Hughes, another candidate to open if not for his ankle injury, failed a pre-match fitness test.
Kerr, having previously tallied 77 runs at 11 from 11 BBL innings, proceeded to bust the contest open with a series of sensible strokes and powerful blows.
Veteran spinner O’Keefe tweaked his right calf after logging tidy figures of 1-21 from four overs, meaning this knock-out match could be his swansong.
Silk is also in extreme doubt for the high-stakes match in Melbourne, which will mark the fifth time that Perth and the Sixers have squared off in the final game of the season.
Cricket Australia (CA) could potentially expand their list of replacement players, opening the door for a Smith cameo.
The superstar would then need to make himself available for both teams, in the unlikely event Perth needed to draft him into their side.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Tempo explains it well below…
Tempo
Roar Rookie
It was quite bad and not the first relatively simple chance Carey has put down this summer. Seems like he has a bit of improving to do with his glovework, especially decision making/footwork to his right against the quicks. To be fair he kept reasonably well to Lyon in the tests, though his technique standing up will be tested much more in Asia. I like Carey, but his glovework has never really impressed me. He's never going to be spectacular behind the stumps so he needs to work hard to at least be solid and be a reliable contributor with the bat to justify his place.
carnivean
Roar Rookie
Carey's missed stumping on the first ball of the innings is probably the bigger stroke of luck. Both Carey and Renshaw are probably deep in despair today.
JGK
Roar Guru
Renshaw’s drop will probably make Kerr a couple of hundred grand inn the IPL. Hopefully he’ll send Marty a case of Stone & Wood as a thank you.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Atapattu and Jayawardene retired out in a test match v Bangladesh. It should definitely happen more in T20 cricket to get rid of a struggling batsman or take advantage of match-ups. If you've got a good hitter of fast bowling on the bench and a fast bowler is bowling the last over, why not sub him in for a batsman who has a low strike rate against fast bowling? If the Stars have Nick Larkin batting and Marcus Stoinis on the bench with 3 overs left, why not sub Larkin off and get Stoinis out there to have a hit? Seems crazy that teams leave resources sitting on the bench when the rules allow for them to be utilised.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Sixers can't complain that the request for Smith got knocked back because those were the rules agreed to 2 weeks ago. I still think it was a baffling decision from the perspective of promoting the BBL and would have been better for the integrity of the competition than fielding a side featuring an assistant coach and a bloke none of the team had met before. I's strange to me that some flexibility was not applied when Smith's signing would have been legal for the first 10.5 years of the BBL (and probably will be again next season), given the boost it would have given this struggling competition. Still, what's done is done and credit to the Sixers for moving beyond it and finding a way to sticky tape a batting order together. Hopefully measures are taken next season to ensure all Cricket Australia contracted players can play for a BBL franchise if available - we can't have a situation where stars who want to play are left sitting on the sideline again.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Steve Smith is completely and utterly on the Sixes. They didn't contract him from the start. All the other franchises played within the same rules. They still contracted their Aussie Stars. But last line is absolutely correct. Fantastic organisation to continue to find ways to win.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
I missed that- what was the explanation?
Tempo
Roar Rookie
He was on strike to begin with 11 required off 4. Better chance to either hit a boundary or get off strike than Jay Lenton or the remaining tailenders. Once it came down to 2 off 1, made no sense to have a bloke with one good leg at the non-strikers end who was definitely not going to face another ball.
Simoc
Guest
Great finish at last. Hopefully another in the final. It wasn't controversial for Silk to retire, just sensible. Forget Smith. They didn't want him on their list. The Strikers carried Head all season and he delivered half a dozen runs or so in his three outings. Not much bang for their buck.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Henriques explained why after the game. Not sure I would have made the same decision, but there was some logic to the thinking.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Subbing off Silk was as 'in the spirit of the game' as the Strikers saying no to the Sixers' request to bring Steve Smith in. Swings and roundabouts Sids! Gotta hand it to the Sixers - they keep finding ways to win games that matter year after year.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Except people only retire in juniors or in practice matches. Silky would have made the two anyway.
Ado Potato
Roar Rookie
Kerr opens the batting for University of Sydney in grade cricket where he has scored centuries. I suspect he has chafed at the lack of batting opportunities with the Sixers, though if you look at their batting line-up you can see why he has been pushed down to number 8 in the batting order all season.
Hutcho
Roar Rookie
Smart darts for mine, it's a tactical retirement and completely above board. If it is within the laws of the game the 'Spirit of Cricket' argument is moot. A really exciting game of cricket in the end and an excellent innings from Hayden Kerr. Sixers had no right to win that game considering injuries, sniffles and schedule. Will probably fall in a heap on Friday night but you never know. Alex Carey's glove work has been pretty shoddy since the 1st Ashes test. Not really sure he is the answer.
Ado Potato
Roar Rookie
But a RHB. His boundaries through the offside were classic cricket shots. His thwacks to the long-on and cow corner boundaries were T20 delights.
Ado Potato
Roar Rookie
Great knock.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
He's on the T20- circuit just no longer gets a gig in the BBL
DingoGray
Roar Guru
the whole thing didn't make a lot of sense in why Silk was out there in the 1st place?
Dutski
Roar Guru
Only controversial if you don’t know the rules. Batter can retire at any time. Doesn’t even need to be hurt. As it turns out he was - and retired hurt means he could come back whereas retired means he couldn’t, but since it was the last ball it didn’t matter either way.