BBL 2019-20 | Sixers vs Strikers - Ask Me Anything ft Josh Philippe’s blitzkrieg and Josh Hazlewood’s class

Who won the bat flip?

Well, the stadium that was host to the game between the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide Strikers is indeed one of the home venues for the Sixers side. It is situated in the coastal city of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales. While it was the only BBL game scheduled at this (small) ground, it sure did have a packed turn-out!

Ah, unfortunately, Jake had a rare bad day even though the start was exciting. He looked breezy at the beginning with a boundary in the first over and smashed a SIX and a four in the following one, only to fall prey to Jackson Bird in the final delivery of the same over. So the left-handed opener had to walk back with only 16 off 9.  

So I heard Josh Hazlewood finally graced the stadium with his presence, but is he even a T20 player?

So Rashid Khan fired a stunning 18-ball 40 runs in the previous game, was he promoted up the order?

Ah, no, sadly he still batted at the number 8 position and only came in to bat in the penultimate over. It was Michael Neser, the new addition to the squad who came out to bat at 7. Rashid got only six deliveries to face towards the end but he sure did entertain in his little unbeaten cameo of 14 off 6. 

Well, yeah, to some extent. It had all the elements and flavouring required to make a T20 innings interesting. Irrespective of how much the Strikers scored in the end, 176/6 that is, the innings was spiced up with some good touch of sixes, precisely seven, but they failed to build on it. However, what was interesting was the spell of 18-1 by Hazlewood and the Sixers’ fielding that was all over the place. Besides, the controversial run-out of Matt Short, by Tom Curran and Philippe, was indeed entertaining. 

How did the stand-in captain Daniel Hughes fare?

I’m always interested to know, did the young Josh Philippe standout?

Oh, yes! He is back. Ever since his 44-ball 81* in the opening game against the Perth Scorchers, eyes have been on the prodigy. With a Steve Smith-like face, the 22-year-old recreated the legend’s brilliance in Sunday’s BBL game. The Sixers opener was in it, the chase, relentlessly right from the start. He smashed a match-winning and unbeaten 52-ball 83, his highest BBL score, an innings that included four sixes and five fours. 

Well, it was basically the Toss when I had a feeling that Strikers would lose this one as well, given how the Sixers sealed a thrilling victory batting second against Thunder. But in the game, the Strikers could’ve made the difference if not for the extremely economical spell by Hazlewood in between. Also, between the 5th and 14th overs, only 41 runs were scored with the loss of two wickets. That was before Cameron White’s good over against Lloyd Pope and Jonathan Wells' fireworks.  

Any takeaways from this game?

So where do the two teams stand after the game?

Another day at BBL 09, another win for the Sixers and now they have five wins in seven games. With it, they still hold the second position, just one below the Melbourne Stars. Meanwhile, the Strikers have moved down one spot to No.4, pushing Thunder up to 3rd position.