The Sydney Thunder came away with a stunning victory in the opening game of BBL07 against the Sydney Sixers. Here are five talking points from the clash.
1. Thunder win final ball thriller
The Thunder left it until the last ball, but they came away with a victory over their arch-rivals, the Sydney Sixers at Spotless Stadium.
Set a moderate 150 for victory, the Thunder made heavy weather of the chase, requiring 16 runs from the final over. Aiden Blizzard and Arjun Nair scampered over the line thanks to a costly final over from Sean Abbott.
The Thunder were largely reliant on skipper Shane Watson, who smashed 77 from 46 balls to virtually carry the Thunder to victory.
Earlier in the night, the Sixers couldn’t capitalise with Daniel Hughes, Nic Maddinson and Sam Billings all making starts without going on with it. Fawad Ahmed was outstanding with the ball, claiming 2/11 from his four overs while Arjun Nair was also impressive.
(AAP Image/Craig Golding)
2. Sams stars On debut
It’s difficult to remember a more impressive debut in BBL cricket than that of Daniel Sams for the Sixers. Sams’ 4/14 off his four overs deserved a match-winning performance as he demonstrated exceptionally varied and skilful bowling from the first ball.
Sams was only called in as a late replacement to the Sixers squad, but he is here to stay. What impressed so much about Sams was his range of skills and ability to execute under pressure.
Sure, he might benefit from teams not having faced him or having previous footage of him, however this was far more impressive than a bowler who snuck under the radar.
Sams bowled at a decent pace, but it was his change-up and match awareness which were impressive. Well disguised slow balls accounted for Jos Butler and Shane Watson, while he also bowled some clutch wide yorkers, slower ball bouncers, and hit a good length early.
At 25 Sams isn’t a young debutant, but his stocks should to soar this summer.
3. Sloppy Sixers punished
The Sixers will feel they lost, rather than the Thunder winning it. They lost to an inferior side on paper through sloppy cricket.
From 1 for 55 in the seventh over, they made a meal of the final 13 overs to only score 9 for 149.
Tactically, they missed a trick or two with their batting order. Sean Abbott is a great striker of the ball and in a low scoring game, is wasted at No.9 behind the likes of Johan Botha, Peter Nevill and Stephen O’Keefe.
Daniel Sams is a rookie, however he has been in outstanding form in New South Wales Premier Cricket and is far better than a No.10, even a level up.
In the field they made a couple of crucial errors, providing two free hits, one through having one too many men outside the circle, and one through a Doug Bollinger no ball in the final five overs. It’s not untypical for the Sixers to start the season slowly, but more performances like last night and they won’t get close.
4. Watson still one of the best
Shane Watson proved once again why he is still a T20 gun for hire around the world with a match-winning knock. Watson looks fresh and relaxed as opposed to last season when he came in half fit and out of sorts.
Watson, even at 36 years of age, when fit, is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in world cricket. From the minute he murdered a pull shot into the stands off Doug Bollinger last night he looked on. While Watson would have been happy with the way he struck the ball, from a captaincy standpoint he might be a bit worried about the support cast around him.
There is no way, when someone strikes 77 from 46 balls that a team should require 16 runs off the final over to win a game. However, that’s where the Thunder found themselves.
(AAP Image/David Moir)
5. Ponting and Channel Ten capture audience
Last night’s game showed what I love about the BBL. While it was a pretty ugly game of cricket at times, it was gripping, intense and entertaining.
Channel Ten do a great job of capturing the mood of the tournament with the laid back, but on point dynamic between their commentators. Ricky Ponting has quickly developed into a world-class commentator probably without even realising it.
He has the sharpest T20 mind in the game and can often predict exactly what is going to happen, or recall one-on-one stats or history in a bowling and batting match up.
It’s clear he has done his homework, and knows the traits and strengths of a wide variety of individual players. Mark Howard plays the perfect role of host, coaxing the best out his experts without overplaying his hand.
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