Efficient Sixers blow Hurricanes away

A strong bowling effort followed by a well-constructed chase helped the Sydney Sixers beat the Hobart Hurricanes and move alongside the Adelaide Strikers at the top of the Big Bash League table.

Chasing 155 after afternoon rain delayed the toss and reduced the match to 19 overs, Nic Maddinson gave the Sixers a blistering start with 29 off just 12 deliveries. The introduction of Xavier Doherty in the third over took pace off the ball, but Maddinson exercised no restraint, charging down the pitch to the first ball he faced and chipped it to long-off.

Sixers' new signing Riki Wessels, who had replaced the absent Dwayne Smith in the squad days before the start of the season, had time to play himself in. Some clinical boundary-hitting at the other end from Michael Lumb and urgent running maintained the Sixers' strong start, ending the five-over Powerplay at 53 for 1 and reaching the ninth at 86 for 1.

Lumb chipped a short ball from Joe Mennie off his hips in the 10th over towards a backtracking Alex Hales in the deep, but the fielder only succeeded in palming it over the ropes. Three balls later though, Wessels holed out to long-on for 22 and Lumb followed him in the 11th over for 44 and the match had been given a twist

Moises Henriques and Jordan Silk batted with calm and poise. Although they did not strike a single boundary for their first 4.5 overs together, they managed to reduce the equation to 27 from 21 with some good running. Silk's first four began the Sixers' procession to victory and three overs later, with the warmly wrapped-up locals already heading for the turnstiles and Bailey hardly trying to take wickets or put pressure on, they reached the target with seven wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare. With a shallow batting order, the Sixers will hope the maturity shown in the chase is displayed throughout the season.

The unchanged Hurricanes, having chosen to bat, probably did not make full use of a good pitch with small boundaries. But starting their innings under cloudy skies and soon after some heavy rain probably didn't help. Bailey was the lone reason for their total of 154, scoring 71 off 44 where the rest of the team managed 80 off 70.

Hales was dismissed in the first over when he charged Brett Lee and spliced a short ball to point. Hales has played two innings for his new club the Hurricanes and has managed one run from six balls. Ben Dunk and Tim Paine dragged the Hurricanes to 42 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay before Dunk fell in the seventh over to an ugly heave. A tidy, low catch soon after from wicketkeeper Ryan Carters ended Paine's innings for at 36.

Bailey began cautiously, scoring 12 of his first 14 balls, but took control once he lost his partners Jonathan Wells and Darren Sammy in the middle overs. He struck 59 from his next 30 balls to record his highest T20 score. When Bailey was dismissed he cast a lonely figure walking towards the pavilion. His wicket was the first of three to fall from the final three balls of the innings, two to Lee and one a run out, as the Hurricanes finished on 154 for 8. Henriques, who was named Man of the Match, collected impressive figures of 2 for 22 from his four overs, while Lee, who has started the season excellently, took 3 for 34.