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Big Bash League: Superb Curran givers Sixers win in Sydney derby

Tom Curran starred with bat and ball as the Sydney Sixers edged out the Sydney Thunder in a thrilling Super Over in the Big Bash on Saturday.

By Jon Fisher
tomcurran-cropped

Sydney, Dec. 28: Tom Curran starred with bat and ball as the Sydney Sixers edged out the Sydney Thunder in a thrilling Super Over in the Big Bash on Saturday.

Curran's brilliant 35 off 17 balls enabled the Sixers to reach 149-7 from their 20 overs - matching the Thunder's 149-8 - and send the match into overtime.

The England international initially failed to build on that momentum, falling to Chris Morris from the opening delivery of the Super Over, but took responsibility with some disciplined bowling as the Thunder fell narrowly short of the 17 runs required to win.

Curran restricted Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja to just five from the first four deliveries, leaving the Thunder needing 12 from the final two balls.

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Sixers nerves were jangling when Hales launched the first over the ropes but he could only manage a four from the second as his side fell to their first defeat of the season.

That there was such late drama was down almost solely to Curran.

The Sixers looked down and out when he strode to the crease at 110 for five but he dispatched his first three deliveries to the fence, the start of a muscular knock that pushed his team to a position from which they needed 16 from the final over.

And when Curran promptly hammered the next ball from Chris Tremain over the mid-wicket boundary for six to make the equation 10 from five balls, it seemed the great escape was on.

Another Curran boundary meant the Sixers required two from the final ball but they could only manage one as Chris Morris' throw from the deep was accurate and wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes whipped off the bails to force a tie.

Sixers captain Moises Henriques made 14 of his side's 16 runs in the Super Over after Curran's first-ball dismissal but the England international regained centre stage to deny the Thunder.

Earlier, captains Henriques and the Thunder's Callum Ferguson played starring roles in their respective teams' efforts.

Ferguson made 52 from 42 balls to underpin an innings that was heading for an under-par score at 115-7 while Henriques' 41 off 30 balls gave Curran the platform to tee off.

Impressive Pope offers glimpse to the future

Lloyd Pope may not look like your archetypal cricketer but he has prodigious talent. The flame-haired spinner put the brakes on the Thunder's innings with 3-23 and they never really recovered.

Although Nathan Lyon's spot in Australia's Test and ODI teams is secure, Pope will surely have a role to play when the New South Welshman steps away from international cricket.

An alumnus of Adelaide club Kensington - where a certain Don Bradman once played - he has the pedigree to become a major player long term but also in this year's Big Bash.

Ferguson leads from the front

Ferguson can count himself extremely unfortunate to finish on the losing side after an innings that looked as though it would give his side the win, before Curran's intervention.

Khawaja (16) and Hales (32) had got the Thunder off to a solid start but both failed to go on to make significant contributions.

And when Pope ran through the middle order, Ferguson had to combine attack and caution to steer his team to 149 before being run out from the final ball of the innings.

Story first published: Saturday, December 28, 2019, 19:26 [IST]
Other articles published on Dec 28, 2019