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BBL 2016/17: Top 5 moments from Matchday 23

Carlos Brathwaite and Fawad Ahmed take Sydney Thunder to a big win

The Melbourne Stars reached the top of the points table in the BBL with a win over the Perth Scorchers in match 26 played at the WACA in Perth today. 

Batting first after winning the toss, the Scorchers innings got off to a horrible start with wickets falling at an alarming rate right from the second over. The Stars bowlers combined brilliantly to reduce the Scorchers to 34 for 5 in the 8th over.

Promoted to no. 6 today, Andrew Tye started to put the innings back on track with a partnership of 44 for the 7th wicket with Ashton Turner and took the score to 78, but then another 2 wickets fell quickly and the team slumped to 83 for 7. England all-rounder Tim Bresnan and left-arm spinner Ashton Agar then combined to string together a 51 run stand to take the score to a fighting 134 for 7 at the end of 20 overs.

The Stars run chase began the way it always does, with Luke Wright and in-form left-hander Rob Quiney starting off confidently at a brisk rate. They gave their team a start of 31 in less than 4 overs before Luke Wright lost his wicket, getting caught at fine leg trying to hook a bouncer. Quiney, in the company of Pietersen, kept playing shots until his dismissal for 35 off 23 balls in the 8th over with the score at 56.

Test match star Handscomb couldn’t do much and was out for just 3, but Marcus Stoinis, coming in at 5 today, ahead of captain David Hussey, made the chase look easy and sealed it with Pietersen in the 18th over with an unbeaten partnership of 55, scoring 40. Earlier in the day, in match 25, the Sydney Thunder made light work of the Sydney Sixers in the Sydney Derby at the SCG. Having restricted the Sixers to just 99 for the loss of 9 wickets, the Thunder eased home in just 10 overs losing only 2 wickets in the process. 

Big Bash League - Sixers v Thunder : News Photo
Kurtis Patterson and Ben Rohrer guided Sydney Thunder to an easy victory

Batting first after winning the toss, the Sixers were never in the game right from the start, losing experienced opener Micheal Lumb in the third over with the score at 14. From being 52 for 2 at one stage in the 9th over, they lost their way completely with the introduction of leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed into the attack.

He took wickets at regular intervals and by the 13th over, the Sixers had slipped to 65 for 7, losing 5 wickets for 13 runs. They could never recover from the slump and crawled their way to just 99 at the end of 20 overs. Fawad Ahmed registered outstanding figures of 4 for 14 and West Indies T20 skipper Carlos Brathwaite backed him up with 3 for 21.

In reply, the Thunder were never in any trouble as openers Kurtis Patterson and James Vince smashed their way to an opening stand of 54 in 5 overs. Vince was dismissed in the 6th over and skipper Shane Watson too lost his wicket in the same over, but the target was too small to defend for the Sixers and Patterson. In the company of Ben Rohner, ensured there was no more drama as the Thunder ended the match in just the 10th over. 

Brief Scores:

Match 26: Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Stars – Perth Scorchers 134 for 7 (Tye 42, Agar 29, Beer 2 for 12, Hilfenhaus 2 for 15) lost to Melbourne Stars 137 for 3 (Pietersen 44*, Stoinis 40*, Richardson 2 for 26)

Result: Melbourne Stars won by 7 wickets

Man of the match – Michael Beer

 

Match 25: Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder – Sydney Sixers 99 for 9 (Hughes 20, Dwarshius 19, Fawad 4 for 14, Brathwaite 3 for 21) lost to Sydney Thunder 100 for 2 in 10 overs (Patterson 38, Vince 28, Abbott 2 for 36)

Result: Sydney Thunder won by 8 wickets

Man of the match – Fawad Ahmed 

Let’s take a look at 5 of the best moments from the day:


#5 Fawad Ahmed makes his case stronger

The Australian team’s selection for the 4 Test series in India isn’t too far away and the selectors would surely be looking at which spinners to choose for the tough tour. Fawad Ahmed, although in an entirely different format, is making all the right noises and presenting a strong case for his inclusion in the squad.

The crafty leg-spinner derailed the Sixers innings as soon as he came into the attack and broke their back by picking up the wickets of Maddinson, Henriques, Munro and Abbott to return figures of 4 for 14 in his 4 overs.

More such bowling performances and the selectors might find it very hard to keep him out of the squad for the India tour.

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