Sixers skipper Moises Henriques admits his side let a golden opportunity to host the BBL decider slip on Tuesday night after delivering one of the club’s worst-ever finals performances.
The Sixers simply had no answer for the Perth Scorchers’ attack as they were all out for 99 – with the BBL final to now be held at Optus Stadium on Sunday.
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Remarkably, the Sixers had only ever been bowled out for less than 100 in a final once previously – also against the Scorchers back in the 2022 decider.
While they narrowly avoided that record low of 92, Tuesday night was still a dismal effort from a Sixers side stacked with talent as Australian greats Mike Hussey and Adam Gilchrist accused the Sydney outfit of “sloppy” and “reckless” batting.
Only Steve Smith (37 off 24) showed any fight as the Sixers were dismissed inside 15 overs.
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“There’s a lot of regret over some of the decision making by the batters,” Henriques conceded.
“We just needed to go out there and make some smart decisions and bat with skill. One of our batters (Smith) was able to do that. The rest of us weren’t.”
Admitting he felt “gutted” by the loss, Henriques believes he made the right call to bowl first in near 40C heat given the Sixers restricted Perth to 9-147.
“Maybe the occasion got to us chasing,” he said.
“We were trying to possibly win the game too quickly – it felt like that, especially our top order batters, myself included.
“It was a really tough one to take because I thought we did a really good job … chasing maybe 20 under par or 25 under par. We just weren’t good enough.
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“We didn’t really have to do anything too ridiculous but I felt like we kept inviting the Scorchers into the game with some of the decision making particularly early on batting wise.
“It’s just gutting when you have such a good first half of the game, playing away from home and you’ve got an opportunity to host a final. You know you can do so much better.
“Personally for me I know I can do so much better than what I did tonight – and I’m sure there are plenty of other guys in our sheds feeling the exact same way.”
Statistics show it’s now the fourth time in club history that the Scorchers have bowled out the Sixers for less than 100 – and it’s a feat that’s only been done seven times in total.
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The Sydney outfit won’t have long to dwell on the loss, and will now host the Challenger final on Friday night against the winner of Wednesday night’s Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Stars clash.
Henriques remains confident star paceman Mitchell Starc will be fit – despite his gruelling summer schedule and the awkward landing that appeared to jar his shoulder early in the loss to Perth.
“He’s an absolute beast how he keeps turning up,” Henriques praised.
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“Doing all the five Tests in the summer, five days off and then he’s back at it with us … He’s the ultimate professional.
“If anyone can do it, it’s going to be him.
“We don’t want to out him at risk for his future commitments as well … at the moment he’ll be wanting to play if available.
“He kept bowling so I imagine he’d be OK.”
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