Mike Hussey is the Man of the Match
And rightly so. His undefeated 80 from 59 deliveries featured 5 fours and 4 sixes. At 40 years of age he still has limited overs bowlers in the palm of his hand and accordingly, his side has finally won a Sydney Derby, taking out the Batting for Change Cup. That’s all from us but thanks for joining us for all the live action tonight. It was a most entertaining start to the Big Bash season.
The Sixers are home, winning the Sydney Smash by 36 runs
WICKET! Bollinger c Kallis b McKay 14 - Sydney Sixers all out for 122
Clint McKay was actually running between deliveries there. Everyone wanted this thing done. Finally Bollinger skied one and Jacques Kallis, moving in from deep mid-wicket, held the catch to finish it all off.
19th over: Sydney Sixers 121-9 (Bird 13, Bollinger 9) - chasing 159
Thwack! Doug Bollinger has absolutely smoked Gurinder Sandhu here, clearing the leg and thumping him long and high over the boundary at long on. Sandhu has been the only Thunder bowler to struggle tonight and ends up with 0-30 from his 3 overs.
18th over: Sydney Sixers 110-9 (Bird 11, Bollinger 2) - chasing 159
Andre Russell returns to the fold in search of his fourth wicket but Bollinger keeps out a yorker first up and with a series of artless dinks and chops from both batsmen, we’re now into that unfortunate phase of the game where it barely looks like professional sport.
WICKET! Botha c Hussey b McKay 13 (Sixers 105-9)
17th over: Sydney Sixers 106-9 (Bird 10, Bollinger 1) - chasing 159
Johan Botha genuinely believes that he can still win this game off his own bat, a fact he seems to be drumming into his partner Jackson Bird, but moments later he gets a short one from McKay and cross-bats it straight to Hussey at short cover.
16th over: Sydney Sixers 103-8 (Botha 11, Bird 9) - chasing 159
Fawad Ahmed’s bowled very well for no wicket so far and returns here with the hope of a couple of cheapies to finish things off. Instead he’s reverse-swept for a boundary by Botha to bring up the Sixers’ hundred. Can’t win ‘em all.
@rustyjacko I just enjoyed the Roger Harper discussion. Have watched this in repeat ever since. https://t.co/F27F1iAtye
— Matthew Beggs (@MatthewBeggs) December 17, 2015
15th over: Sydney Sixers 94-8 (Botha 5, Bird 7) - chasing 159
Bam! Jackson Bird is without a hope here but has a dip anyway, thumping Kallis for a lengthy six down the ground, after which he can’t wipe the smile from his face. The Sixers might yet crack three figures.
WICKET! Lyon c Rohrer b Russell 4 (Sydney Sixers 85-8)
14th over: Sydney Sixers 85-8 (Botha 3, Bird 0) - chasing 159
Nathan Lyon’s here for a good time, not a long time, doing the limbo as he leans back and dabs Russell over the gully region for four then promptly repeating the dose but cracking it straight to Rohrer in that region. Russell has 3-11 off 3. Good areas, Andre.
WICKET! Lawford b Watson 4 (Sydney Sixers 80-7)
13th over: Sydney Sixers 80-7 (Botha 2, Lyon o)
In classic grade cricket style Waugh now sledges the new man Trent Lawford for his bat (it’s a County, calm down June) though it turns out to be warranted, because after swiping four off his first ball and trying the same from his second, Lawford is bowled neck and crop having a third slog of the over. This is falling away very quickly.
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WICKET! Abbott c&b Watson - 0 (Sydney Sixers 76-6)
Mark Waugh again: “Shane Watson is back into the attack, just quietly.” Only there’s nothing quiet about it. Watson is grunting and groaning and oohing and ahhing and within the blink of an eye he’s yeehawing when Abbott slaps one straight back into his bread basket for another caught and bowled. That’s the game, folks. The Thunder will finally beat the Sixers tonight.
12th over: Sydney Sixers 75-5 (Botha 1, Abbott 0) - chasing 159
That was a super over from Harper-Emburey-Green. I mean, he’s an off-spinner and Mark Waugh still likes him. He must be doing something right.
WICKET! Carters c&b Green 7 (Sydney Sixers 75-5)
Chris Green is back into the attack now and perhaps sensing the oxygen being sucked from this contest, Mark Waugh is pondering the bowler’s similarities with Roger Harper and John Emburey, who were of course birds of a feather themselves... He’s quickly silenced through because green darts one in flatter and quicker to Carters and the young New South Welshman turns back a simple return catch. Let’s be honest, the Sixers are goners now.
11th over: Sydney Sixers 73-4 (Carters 7, Botha 0) - chasing 159
“There are no words. There are no words. I have none.” Michael Lumb’s had a tough night and his post-innings interview sums it up well, even if he was talking about his dropped catch earlier and not that LBW call
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WICKET! Michael Lumb lbw Kallis 34 (Sydney Sixers 73-4)
Jacques Kallis needs to go. Everyone knows it. Ryan Carters knows it and dances down the track to slap him over backward point for a welcome boundary. But then Lumb falls to him! Oh no. That looked like it was pitching outside leg and the Englishman is not happy but he has to go. Klitschko-Chesterfield has done the job! I never doubted him.
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10th over: Sydney Sixers 68-3 (Lumb 34, Carters 2) - chasing 159
Fawad Ahmed continues in the same miserly vein as his last over but his penultimate delivery is a little to straight and Lumb slog-sweeps hard, high and fast enough to beat Gurinder Sandhu in the deep. Gavin Robertson, meanwhile, is still angry about the Haddin non-LBW.
Does anyone know if the MCC LBW rule applies in the BBL, geezus, if it pitches in line and is hitting its bloody out LBW
— Gavin Robertson (@GavRobbo375) December 17, 2015
9th over: Sydney Sixers 60-3 (Lumb 27, Carters 1) - chasing 159
Appearing at the crease now is Ryan Carters, whose ‘Batting for Change’ charity has its name on the cup these two sides play for in the “Sydney Smash”. The Batting for Change Smash? Something like that. Carters flicks a single to fine leg to get off the mark. He needs to put in a decent shift here to get his side home.
WICKET! Silk c Green b Watson 8 (Sydney Sixers 57-3)
Continuing somewhat of a tradition in this game, Shane Watson appears for a bowl and sprays his first delivery down the leg-side for a wide but then rather than straightening up, puts another in that general vicinity next up so Silk’s able to turn the simplest boundary down to the vacant fine leg region. But then...Watson strikes! He’s short and straight and Silk’s eyes light up, but his swiveling pull is shoveled straight down the throat of Green at deep, backward square leg. Not ideal, really.
8th over: Sydney Sixers 52-2 (Lumb 25, Silk 4) - chasing 159
Time for some Fawad Ahmed, the leggie who couldn’t take a trick on Australia’s Ashes trip but, if what I observed a few weeks back in the Sheffield Shield is anything to go by, suddenly a resurgent performer. Lumb looks to attack him, skipping down the track and lofting over extra cover but Russell does some very slick work in the deep to reel it in with one hand and save two. Five come from the over as the Thunder continue to turn the screws.
7th over: Sydney Sixers 47-2 (Lumb 21, Silk 3) - chasing 159
He’s been a bystander for a few overs but Lumb mucks in by spearing a lofted drive over cover for four from Sandhu’s bowling. There was a decent attempt at a save from Green down at the boundary but he spent most of his tickets getting there and didn’t quite know how to knock it back into play properly once he got there.
Sandhu shouldn’t be left out of the hairstyles chatter, either. His bouncy bouffant brings to mind none other than Bill Voce. Bet Voce wouldn’t have conceded ten in an over against Michael Lumb.
6th over: Sydney Sixers 37-2 (Lumb 14, Silk 0) - chasing 159
Jordan Silk arrives at the crease now and big Andre Russell is fired up, banging down a short one oto let the ginger Aussie know he means business. Silk’s got a lot of work to do with her with Lumb.
WICKET! Nic Maddinson b Andre Russell - 7 (Sydney Sixers 37-2)
Maddinson was getting things moving here when he crashed Russell for four over third man but a few balls later he struggles to keep out another yorker from the big West Indian, stabbing it into his foot and watching it deflect back onto the stumps. The Sixers have fallen in a hole all of a sudden.
5th over: Sydney Sixers 31-1 (Lumb 14, Maddinson 1) - chasing 159
Looking slightly like a Madam Tussaud’s waxwork of Wladimir Kitschko, Jacques Kallis trots across for his first trundle of the evening and produces the sort of wide you’d rightly expect from a heavyweight boxer. Otherwise it’s another tidy over and suddenly, combined with Russell’s before, it has the pressure back on the Sixers.
4th over: Sydney Sixers 28-1 (Lumb 14, Maddinson 0) - chasing 159
Oof, Russell produces an absolute snorter to Maddinson first up, digging it in short and drawing trampoline bounce from the Spotless Stadium pitch. He thinks it’s taken glove on the way through to keeper Chris Hartley but replays reveal it’s forearm. Either way, Russell’s produced a gem of an over to get the vital wicket of Haddin; a wicket maiden!
WICKET! Brad Haddin b Andre Russell 13 (Sydney Sixers 28-1)
Andre Russell strikes! And it’s a ripping yorker to Haddin after he’d played away a couple of dot balls. That’s just cleansed him. Russell immediately adopts an aeroplane pose, that time-honoured celebration technique of uncreative strikers and hyperactive 5-year-olds. The Thunder have their breakthrough.
3rd over: Sydney Sixers 28-0 (Haddin 13, Lumb 14) - chasing 159
Geez, there’s some real Keith Miller ‘do action here after all as Clint McKay comes into the attack with a thick mop of jet-black hair flopping about. He’s a real forgotten man of Aussie cricket, McKay – their most effective ODI bowler for a couple of years before he was ditched in the lead-in to the World Cup. In no time he’s ducking it around, varying his pace and length and causing both batsmen bother, but having only conceded three runs from his first five deliveries his last – a slower ball with a little too much width – is clipped through the off side for a pressure-relieving boundary.
2nd over: Sydney Sixers 21-0 (Haddin 12, Lumb 8) - chasing 159
Grunider Sandhu pairs with Green and initially fares no better, sending down a wide before Lumb carves him over gully for four bits. This could sobering for the Thunder if they don’t settle quickly. Lumb’s then a little casual running for a single but a review for a run-out is unsuccessful for the fielding side.
1st over: Sydney Sixers 12-0 (Haddin 11, Lumb 1) - chasing 159
Orright, we’re back. Brad Haddin is on strike to the offie Chris Green, who still looks very much like a Home and Away extra and looks to have trapped Haddin in front first ball of the innings but gets the thumbs down from Umpire Geoff Joshua. Ouch. Surely that was out? Haddin celebrates by belting four over the man at mid off.
Back to Keith Miller’s hair; Mark Waugh thinks Green’s is similar. Don’t think Junior watched many episodes of The Cricket Archives, based on that observation. Anyway, Michael Lumb gets off strike with a single and unlucky Chris Green is plastered 15 rows back over cow corner by a suddenly surging Haddin.
How in gods name is that LBW not out, Hads has played umpire off a break with a look at the bat, #Bluffed
— Gavin Robertson (@GavRobbo375) December 17, 2015
Mrs Hussey would never admit it, but I'm sure she must love Mike more than David. Who can blame her?
— Schlitz (@Schlitz310) December 17, 2015
The moment of the game so far - Michael Lumb's drop
Look at is. JUST LOOK AT IT!
.@thunderbbl finish 4/158 thanks largely to a brilliant 80 (59) from Hussey. Lumb also dropped a sitter #SydneySmash pic.twitter.com/M6NpvvwYDt
— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) December 17, 2015
The Thunder finish on 158 thanks to a Mike Hussey gem!
20th over: Sydney Thunder 158-4 (Hussey 80, Russell 4)
Doug Bollinger is entrusted with the final over and with Russell on strike, he produces a wide, very full dot ball outside off stump to start and then jams Russell up so he can only squeeze a single from the next. A hush descends for the Huss. He squints. He taps. He lifts his bat and cracks another sweetly-timed boundary over the man at mid-off. Ignoring the greying of the temples, Mr Cricket might actually be eternal. Wonderful stuff.
Another ugly heave to leg gets Russell off strike for the final delivery and Hussey duly dispatches a low full toss over cow corner for another thumping six. What a knock! At the age of 40 he’s ended up with more than half his side’s score!
Mike Hussey - what a legend #BBL05 #SydneySmash
— Andrew Jones (@acxjones) December 17, 2015
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19th over: Sydney Thunder 145-4 (Hussey 71, Russell 2)
Andre Russell gets on strike thanks to a Mike Hussey single and doesn’t quite produce his Watto-blasting theatrics from training, cross-batting an artless single in much the same style as yer garden variety tail-ender. The over finishes with a single, which means Lawford has conceded only five runs and taken a wicket in his final over. He could have bowled a couple more at that rate. This last over could be pretty hectic.
WICKET! Rohrer c Lyon b Lawford 29 (Sydney Thunder 141-4)
The Mountain Man Lawford strikes! It was a decent knock from Rohrer and he tries to hit the all-rounder into Sunday but only gets a top edge to Lyon in the deep. Andre Russell’s in now. This could be fun.
18th over: Sydney Thunder 140-3 (Hussey 68, Rohrer 29)
Bollinger is back now and Hussey thrashes him to leg and wide of a diving Ryan Carters in the deep, who made decent ground but...how to put it kindly...looked every inch the wicketkeeper. It gets worse; Carters had to dart in again to a skier next up and though it’s a tough chance he can’t hold it either. Bollinger suffers further pain when Hussey squirts him through gully for four more. To drag the Storage Wars analogy even further, Bollinger now looks like he’s been outbid on a locker containing a Ferrari.
17th over: Sydney Thunder 129-3 (Hussey 57, Rohrer 29)
With Abbott back Rohrer makes his move, lofting the paceman down the ground and going within inches of clearing the rope, a feat he achieves a ball later with a thumping strike over long-on. Hussey then plays one of those bull-whip pulls, slashing the ball from outside off around to deep mid-wicket to pick up two and bring up his half-century from 46 deliveries. Better is the follow-up, which he smears slightly squarer to clear a generously short boundary. A single down the ground finishes a dirty over for Abbott. Twenty came from it. The partnership between this pair is now worth 60 off 38.
No one ever talks about it, but Ben Rohrer looks like a guy who would meet Peter Lorre on a train and have a cryptic conversation.
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) December 17, 2015
16th over: Sydney Thunder 109-3 (Hussey 48, Rohrer 18)
Trent Lawford is on for a bowl now and though he looks a lot like Richard Kiel as the giant spectator from the gallery in Happy Gilmore, his bowling is tidy enough and perhaps even a little quicker than Mike Hussey expects, so he’s struck on the rear hip trying to pull the burly all-rounder. Phwoar, he’s got a bit of gas, Lawford – a short follow-up whistles past the batsman’s ear but then Bollinger makes a hash of a fairly regulation save at fine leg and so Hussey gets four from the final delivery.
Will never get tired of watching Mike Hussey bat. #BBL05 #class #pleaseneverretire
— Jessica Jonassen (@JJonassen21) December 17, 2015
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15th over: Sydney Thunder 102-3 (Hussey 44, Rohrer 15)
If body language is anything to go by, Andre Russell doesn’t look up to it as he sits on the sidelines ducking his face away from the cameras. No matter, Mike Hussey is starting to warm to the task more and more as the minutes progress. Perhaps he’ll finish with a flurry. He ramps Lyon over the keeper’s head for a couple. Lyon finishes his spell with a dot and 1-28 off 4 is a reasonable night for the offie.
14th over: Sydney Thunder 96-3 (Hussey 41, Rohrer 12)
Botha continues to apply pressure and almost claims a wicket when he teases out a leading edge as Rohrer pushes against the spin and only just clears a diving Nathan Lyon at backward point. Did he get a hand to it? Looked like it. Worse for Botha, Hussey skips down the track a few balls later and clatters another big six like before, flat and hard over long off.
13th over: Sydney Thunder 84-3 (Hussey 31, Rohrer 10)
This is slipping away for the Thunder here, with even Mike Hussey struggling to push the score along against the spinners. Rohrer really needs to unleash here with Andre Russell still sitting in the dug-out.
12th over: Sydney Thunder 79-3 (Hussey 28, Rohrer 8)
There’s a nice moment here when Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting start talking about who they’d pretend to be when they batted in the backyard as kids. Waugh was either Doug Walters or Viv. And Punter? “Always Boonie, wasn’t I?”
Johan Botha is back, meanwhile. Who would have have pretended to have been in the backyard? Pat Symcox? That Lumb drop:
Michael Lumb you are a boofhead #smashemsixers #bbl05 https://t.co/WMw7gBetPL
— Jake Chook (@jake_chook) December 17, 2015
11th over: Sydney Thunder 73-3 (Hussey 26, Rohrer 4)
Trent Lawford has looked a bit of a liability in the field and so it proves when he almost gifts Rohrer four down on the boundary at third man.
WICKET! Watson b Lyon 16 (Thunder 69-3)
Watson goes! Oh dear, Watson really could have cashed in on the Lumb error and looked like he might when he celebrated that reprieve by hammering Nathan Lyon long and high over the boundary at cow corner with a brutal slog-pull, but a few balls later he lashes at the spinner again and gets bowled neck and crop. Filthy.
10th over: Sydney Thunder 61-2 (Hussey 23, Watson 9)
Abbott continues with a trio of dots to Watson and then squares him up beautifully so that Michael Lumb can t ake the simplest mid-off catch you will ever see inflict upon the bowler one of the worst drops in the history of professional cricket. Oh dear. That was an absolute howler. What even happened there? Are they keeping Watson in to avoid bowling to Andre Russell? That was completely and utterly bizarre.
The Big Bash may have just peaked.
— The Old Batsman (@theoldbatsman) December 17, 2015
9th over: Sydney Thunder 60-2 (Hussey 23, Watson 8)
The spin rotation continues now with the emergence of Nathan Lyon, who is turned to leg for two and then a single by Watson. Steve Smith reckons that 170 is about par tonight. The Thunder will need to get their skates on to get there.
8th over: Sydney Thunder 55-2 (Hussey 21, Watson 5)
Waaaatttttoooo, Waaaatttttooo, the chant rings out across my living room. The great man duly salutes, rocking onto the back foot and lathering a classic square cut past the man at point. A single finishes the Abbott over.
Cometh the hour, cometh the Watto. #BBL05
— Alan Hill (@ajhill_alan) December 17, 2015
WICKET! Kallis c Lyon b Abbott 15 (Sydney Thunder 49-2)
Kallis goes! Sean Abbott comes in for his first bowl of the night, banging one in short outside off stump and Kallis cracks it high, deep but not wide enough to beat an advancing Nathan Lyon at deep extra cover. The Thunder were gathering some momentum there but they’ll have to start again.
#GarryTheGoat #SydneySmash pic.twitter.com/ioGtlQQDP1 https://t.co/gmgkjNosAj
— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) December 17, 2015
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7th over: Sydney Thunder 48-1 (Kallis 15, Hussey 21)
Botha is back for another over, wearing the serene expression of man who knows exactly what he’s doing as he orders his fieldsmen into position. No flailing arms and screaming for Johan; nods, winks and gentle thumb gestures do the job. He concedes a trio of singles and then two to another Hussey cover drive. A dot and a single finish another stingy over from the former Protea.
6th over: Sydney Thunder 42-1 (Kallis 13, Hussey 17)
Smash! Jackson Bird has switched ends and first ball of this over he just sort of sticks it in the slot, so Mike Hussey skips down the track to turn it into a genuine half volley and flogs it over long off for the first six of the tournament. That fizzed off the middle of the veteran’s bat, as does a cover drive on the up, which runs away for four.
Robert Wilson is not happy with me. “I was five paragraphs into a ranting lament at you traducing the sweet, melancholy poet that is your Test OBO self in order to prostitute yourself so coarsely for the BBL’s vulgar fare,” starts. “Then I realised I had the morning off. So, bugger that, obviously. Warming up the live feed as we speak. Is this the stuff where they mike up some of the players? I’d be all over that.” Hussey would be worth a go right now: Mike on Mike?
The PowerPlay is now done, if that’s information that floats your boat.
5th over: Sydney Thunder 32-1 (Kallis 13, Hussey 7)
Former Adelaide Strikers skipper Johan Botha is on for his first bowl of the night and to put it bluntly, Jacques Kallis needs to get a wriggle on here. He’s off strike with one and then Hussey slashes two more through the gap at cover but Botha is tying the latter up with canny dots. Actually, if Botha was in a rockabilly cover band, they’d have to be called The Canny Dots, wouldn’t they? He’s certainly got the haircut for it.
4th over: Sydney Thunder 28-1 (Kallis 12, Hussey 4)
This is a very tidy little opening spell from Bollinger, who in addition to his wicket in the first over concedes only a pair of singles from his first four deliveries here. There follows a single to Hussey, glided down to third man, and Bollinger looks like he needs a defibrillator. Kallis does the same to the final ball. Four off. Very nice work from The Rug.
3rd over: Sydney Thunder 24-1 (Kallis 10, Hussey 2)
Mr Cricket’s at the crease now and he gets off the mark in typical Hussey style, waving his wand attractively and punting one to short cover for the quick single. A Michael Lumb misfield then gifts Kallis two but its a tight over from Bird and to boot, Maddinson almost runs Hussey out from side-on with a throw from the final delivery. That was a close shave.
WICKET! Blizzard lbw Bollinger 12 (Sydney Thunder 18-1)
2nd over: Sydney Thunder 18-1 (Kallis 6)
The follicle-based fun continues when Doug ‘The Rug’ Bollinger appears to open with Bird and with the addition of a sleeve tattoo, the big quick now looks like a contestant from Storage Wars. He opens his first locker and unfortunately Aiden Blizzard is inside, belting him for a boundary through cow corner. But then...a wicket! Bollinger is slightly back of a length and it doesn’t get up as much as Blizzard hopes, crashing into his pad and strapping him in front. Bollinger strikes!
1st over: Sydney Thunder 13-0 (Kallis 5, Blizzard 8)
Jackson Bird takes the new ball for the Sixers and it’s Jacques Kallis who takes guard to his first ball, shuffling forward and prodding defensively. Kallis is currently what I would describe as, hmm, well-upholstered. Like a 3-seater chesterfield. But blow me down if he can’t still biff it. Bird’s second ball is driven hard and low through mid-off for a boundary to get us under way. Two balls later he’s off strike with a single to leg and Blizzard smokes Bird straight down the ground for four of his own and then another between mid-wicket and mid-on. Bang! The Thunder are off to a flyer!
Okay, we’re finally getting somewhere
The local broadcast is under way, soundtracked by Muse, whose awful prog-whatever is even more terrible than I remembered. Ricky Ponting’s hair, however... now that’s a win. I think he’s really capturing the spirit of Keith Miller’s barnet these days, perhaps going as far as to literally apply nugget to it from what I can gather. And don’t get me started on Jacques Kallis... Who said this was a young man’s game?
Ponting has also just described Johan Botha as “a world-class all-rounder”. I guess you can’t blame him for being a bit excitable on opening night. Lastly, it’s occurred to me now that this derby has been dubbed “The Sydney Smash”. What a gig it must be to work in sports marketing these days, eh.
@SixersBBL gun team but can @ThunderBBL with Wato and Andre RUSSELL big ins beat them for the 1st time? @tensporttv #SydneySmash #BBL05
— Damien Fleming (@bowlologist) December 17, 2015
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That Andre Russell six I was talking about
Decent hit, that.
Can't wait to see if Andre Russell can repeat the dose tonight... #BBL05 Via @ThunderBBL https://t.co/eBfUwf8xvz
— TAB (@tabcomau) December 17, 2015
A note on the telecast
Being a goldfish, I completely forgot that the local broadcaster never has any more than ten minutes of intro guff before Big Bash games, which is a genuine shame because I desperately want to stare at Ricky Ponting’s hair for at least 45 minutes per day and the puff-piece interview with Michael Buble that’s on in his place is really not cutting it.
That finalised batting order for the Thunder
Andre Russell put Shane Watson onto the stadium roof at training, so keep an eye out for his likely appearance late in the Thunder innings.
Batting order for Thunder: Blizzard, Kallis, Hussey, Watson, Rohrer, Russell, Hartley, Green, McKay, Sandhu, Ahmed #ThunderNation #BBL05
— Sydney Thunder (@ThunderBBL) December 17, 2015
A late batting order change
...Shane Watson was set to open with Jacques Kallis but for some reason he’ll now slide down to No.4 and Aiden Blizzard will quite literally have a bash. Meanwhile, here’s what’s getting the kids excited; Gurinder Sandhu’s 115km/h off-cutters.
.@ThunderBBL's @gurinder_19 warming up for a big night at Spotless Stadium! #BBL05 #SydneySmash pic.twitter.com/REZ8kNCRMh
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 17, 2015
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Tonight’s teams are as follows:
Thunder: M Hussey (c), S Watson, C Green, A Blizzard, B Rohrer, J Kallis, C Hartley (wk), G Sandhu, F Ahmed, C McKay, Andre Russell
Sixers: M Lumb, B Haddin, N Maddinson (c), J Silk, R Carters, J Botha, S Abbott, T Lawford, N Lyon, J Bird, D Bollinger. 12th man: E Cowan
And Mike Hussey has won the toss and elected to bat, which remains a mystery to Channel Ten viewers in Australia, who are instead watching a news panel show featuring Andrew Flintoff. Of course.
Sydney Thunder have won the toss and will bat first at #spotlessstadium #SydneySmash #ThunderNation #BBL05
— Sydney Thunder (@ThunderBBL) December 17, 2015
Preamble
Hello OBOers and welcome to this opening clash of the 2015-16 Big Bash League season, a Sydney derby between Nic Maddinson’s Sixers and Mike Hussey’s Chunder Thunder. Isn’t that a cute photo of Maddinson and Mr Cricket? They look like they’re about to embark upon a father-son match.
Anyway, there’s much else to be excited about here; the sight of Shane Watson and Jacques Kallis lumbering around the field, for starters. Maybe this one should be televised via the National Geographic channel. Personally I’m looking forward to Usman Khawaja, Ed Cowan and also some Jake Doran, the latter rarely sighted outside of his starring role in that old Gatorade commercial where he averaged 37. The Thunder have never won this one. Will tonight be their breakthrough?
Oh, and feel free to email and tweet me. I’ll be here all night, I promise.
Russ will be here shortly. In the meantime, this is quite funny:
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