Two weeks into the BBL15 season and things were looking bleak for the Sydney Sixers.
Following a Boxing Day thrashing at the hands at the Stars, the men in magenta had lost three from four games and were hovering around the bottom of the BBL ladder.
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As skipper Moises Henriques explained, there was something “off”.
“We were definitely a little rusty or maybe complacent I’m not sure how to describe it but we were just off. I could feel it,” Henriques told Fox Cricket during his side’s win in the Challenger against Hobart to book their ticket into Sunday’s decider against the Scorchers.
The poor start to the competition led to a constructive team meeting about how to better execute.
“We had a player led discussion. A lot of the bowlers felt that especially in the first couple of games they were missing the line and getting hit for six over backward square and we were playing on wickets that were nipping around a lot so we needed to get the ball in the channel. Get it a bit wider rather than on the hip,” the Sixers captain said.
It worked. The Sixers would win their final five games of the season (one washout) to shoot up the ladder and finish second.
After losing to Perth in the qualifying final, they’d travel back to Sydney to win with their second chance.
“It wasn’t just the results. Our processes were off and we were missing with both bat and ball and then basically since then, the bowlers more so than anything have put on an absolute execution clinic to be honest,” Henriques continued.
The Sixers skipper admitted the return of Aussie Test stars Steve Smith and Mitch Starc has definitely helped.
Smith especially. In his five innings this BBL season, he’s averaging a whopping 68.75 with one century.
Another key player is the versatile Joel Davies, who has had a superb season.
His skillset was fully on display against the Hurricanes with Davies taking two wickets, hitting 27 off 12 and producing two outstanding catches.
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The Sixers flew out to Perth on Saturday to play their fourth game in nine days.
Smith, who captained the Sixers to a title in the first ever Big Bash competition against the Scorchers 15 years ago, says lessons have to be learnt from the Sixers’ loss to the Scorchers last Tuesday.
“Hopefully we’ve learnt from the mistakes from last game and rectify them in the final,” he said on Fox Cricket.
Remarkably, this will be the sixth time the Sixers and Scorchers have faced each other in a BBL decider, with Perth holding the 3-2 lead.
Cricketing greats Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist believes the sixth grand final meeting will go down to the wire.
“I think it’s a deadset flip of the coin,” Waugh said.
“I think the Sixers will learn from how they lost against the Scorchers about a week ago but I think it comes down to Steve Smith.”
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