Smith's record-equalling BBL ton headlines Sydney Sixers' victory
After the pitched battles in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Steve Smith made a seamless switch to the T20 format as he slammed a record-equalling third BBL century in Sydney Sixers' dominant victory over Perth Scorchers. Smith slammed 121* off just 64 balls, his third three figure score in his last seven BBL innings as the Sixers posted 220 on a flat track at home, a target that proved to be well beyond the Scorchers' reach despite the best efforts of Ashton Turner, who slammed a 32-ball 66*.
Smith, who struck 10 fours and as many as seven sixes, endured a rusty beginning and scored at less than a-run-a-ball in the powerplay before Moises Henriques injected the Sixers' innings with much needed momentum batting at No.4. The pair of Smith and Henriques added 113 for the third wicket in just 57 balls to which the latter contributed 46 in just 28 balls.
Having needed 36 balls to get to 50 which included a reprieve from Cooper Connolly on 31, Smith powered up in the second half of the innings and scored his second 50 in just 22 balls to join Ben McDermott as the only two players to hit three BBL hundreds. Smith hit three more sixes in the final over of the innings bowled by Jason Behrendorff before walking off unbeaten to a rousing ovation from the doting SCG crowd.
Smith and Ben Dwarshius (23* off 7) helped Sixers add 60 runs from the final three overs and powered the total well past 200. On a belter of a surface, those extra runs proved to be crucial as the visitors were able to keep the chase alive till the final over despite slipping to 128 for 6 by the 14th over. Sam Fanning and Finn Allen added 36 in just 3.2 overs before Sean Abbott struck twice in two balls. Connolly added a quickfire 33 before he too fell to Abbott while Fanning's 29-ball 41 was ended by Hayden Kerr.
When all hopes seemed lost, captain Turner kept the Scorchers in the hunt and found good support from Matthew Spoors and the pair added 66 for the seventh wicket. Turner got to a half-century off just 24 balls and brought the equation down to 55 from the final three overs. That was reduced to 23 from the final over but Henriques held his nerve and defended that with elan for his team's fifth win of the campaign.
Brief scores:Sydney Sixers 220/3 in 20 overs (Steve Smith 121*, Moises Henriques 46; Ashton Agar 1-27) beat Perth Scorchers 206/7 in 20 overs (Ashton Turner 66*; Sean Abbott 4-43) by 14 runs.
Matt Short 109 (54) smashed the fastest BBL century by an Adelaide Strikers player as his side swatted aside Brisbane Heat by 56 runs. Short's carnage took Strikers to 251/5, the highest total at the Adelaide Oval and the second highest of all time in BBL history. It was a chase that was always going to be beyond the defending champions and despite a few fleeting cameos from their top order, Heat fell well short in the end.
The match, however, was all about Short's masterclass in ball-striking as he made optimal use of a wonderful batting surface and short square boundaries to tear apart the Heat bowling. Even the usually economical Spencer Johnson copped a lot of stick as Short smashed 10 boundaries and seven sixes in his innings. Chris Lynn (47 off 20) combined for a fiery opening stand that brought up 100 inside the seventh over and it set the tone for a massive total. Alex Ross (44* off 19) down the order ensured that the momentum was never lost as the Strikers notched up a record total.
Heat skipper Colin Munro's on-field injury meant that he couldn't bat at his usual opening spot and it aggravated an already difficult situation for the reigning champions who needed an outstanding knock from someone to make a match of the run chase. Nathan McSweeney (43 off 24) and Matt Renshaw (34 off 16) thrilled the crowd briefly with their strokeplay but both of them needed to bat deeper into the innings for the visitors to stand a chance. Johnson at the back end struck a few lusty blows to narrow the margin of defeat but that was the only consolation for Heat.
Brief scores: Adelaide Strikers 251/5 in 20 overs (Matt Short 109, Chris Lynn 47; Matthew Kuhnemann 3-50) beat Brisbane Heat 195 in 20 overs (Nathan McSweeney 43; D'Arcy Short 4-15, Liam Haskett 2-43) by 56 runs.
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