Birthday boy Hazlewood puts seal on Sixers' BBL triumph
Birthday boy Josh Hazlewood's three-ball cameo put the seal on a fifth Big Bash League win on the bounce for Sydney Sixers as they beat Adelaide Strikers by two wickets.
The Australia star sent all three of the balls he faced to the boundary to get his side over the line with eight balls remaining.
It came after the Strikers had posted a sub-par 135 all out on home soil, Jake Weatherald (47) and Alex Carey (32) the only men to do any real damage with the bat.
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Although no Sixers players could match either of those efforts, Hazlewood was one of seven to reach double figures in a more robust team innings.
So, this just happened...
Not bad from the birthday boy, Josh Hazlewood! #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/b2PHHkZi2D — KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 8, 2020
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HAZLEWOOD CELEBRATES IN STYLE
The Sixers were ahead of the rate but running out of wickets when Hazlewood came to the crease with eight down.
Unflustered by the precarious situation, Hazlewood set about ruining former Australia team-mate Peter Siddle's bowling figures in the penultimate over.
Having got on strike in the second ball of Siddle's set, Hazlewood quickly got into the groove and cut his mate to the rope for the first of three fours on the bounce.
It was a fitting way to celebrate his 29th birthday, with his bowling figures of 1-19 off four overs proving pretty useful, too.
JAKE CAN'T WEATHER THE STORM
Weatherald's knock made him the game's top scorer, but it came in a losing effort.
He played fluently in a 31-ball innings that featured seven fours and a maximum before Tom Curran's superb yorker brought the Weatherald show to a close, the bowler posting figures of 4-22.
His departure put the brakes on Adelaide's progress as nobody down the order could match Weatherald's strike rate.
TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
It may not have been the plan, but the Sixers ended up sharing the runs around in pursuit of what was a pretty modest target.
James Vince's 27 was the biggest contribution, with Curran rounding out a superb day by adding 21 with the bat.
It was Curran's dismissal, Harry Conway's yorker giving him a taste of his own medicine, that led to Hazlewood's introduction and he put the icing on the cake.
IN A ROW!#smashemsixers #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/kLSijdoWAd — Sydney Sixers (@SixersBBL) January 8, 2020
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