Big Bash 2023: Sydney Thunder narrowly escaped defeat against Melbourne Stars, Brisbane Heat

The Sydney Thunder narrowly escaped disaster and reached the final after beating the wooden spoons Melbourne Stars by three wickets at the MCG with seven balls to spare on Wednesday night.

After Hobart upset Brisbane earlier in the day to move into fifth place, Sidney had to beat the Stars in the last game of the regular season to finish in the top five.

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And when they held Melbourne by a paltry 7-119, they looked like they had booked their place in the final.

Instead, they dropped to 5-60 in round 12, turning a seemingly simple run chase into a painstaking task.

When Ben Cutting was knocked out by Luke Wood on the 15th over, the crowd dropped to 6-80 and their fate was sealed five balls later when Chris Green led Nathan Coulter-Neal to a short fine leg with Adam Zampa waiting underneath.

However, the Stars captain waived the all-in assist to give Green life, rather than drop Sidney to 7-85.

Daniel Sams added to Zampa’s injury as he cracked a pair of fours and a six in the next six balls to take the Thunder to 6-104 in the 17th over.

Zampa beat Sams for 28 (18 down), meaning Sidney needed 16 of 21 to win with three wickets in hand, and Green (six no out) and Nathan McAndrew (12 no out) led the Thunder to 7- 120 to send the Hurricanes returned outside the top five immediately after death.

The result means the Thunder finished the season in fourth place and will take on Brisbane in the Eliminator Final on Friday night, the winner of which will face the Melbourne Renegades in the Knockout Final at Marvel Stadium on Sunday night.

Top teams Perth and the Sydney 66ers will face off in the qualifier final at the Optus Stadium on Saturday night.

But the Thunder may have to take on Heat no-strike bowler Gurinder Sandhu, who injured his calf early and was unable to play again after batting the first and third overs of the match.

THUNDER BOWLERS ON SONG

Earlier in the game, the Thunder’s bowling offense was superb, with five of their seven bowlers bowling 6.5 over or under, making life very difficult for the hosts, who were given very few meaningful scoring opportunities and converted only seven fours and one. six. Usman Kadir (3-24 of four overs) and Green (2-19 of four) were the standout winners – the former took key scalps of Markus Stoinis (eight), Tom Rogers (35) and Bo Webster (14), while Green fired Hilton Cartwright (36).

ZAMPA AGAIN STARS

Zampa may have lost a sitter in the decider, but he again handled the ball brilliantly, winning 3-25 from his four overs, including 10 spot balls. He teamed with Liam Hatcher, Coulter-Nile and Bo Webster to put significant pressure on the Thunder, who failed to reach the boundary by 32 balls and lost 4–29 at one stage.

WARNER CONTINUES

David Warner’s disappointing Big Bash comeback continued Wednesday night when he went two in the second on an attempt to pull Luke Wood from the outside of the stump, giving Tom Rogers an easy catch in the middle of the wicket. The Rookie Test Champion has now managed just 63 runs in his five hits for Sydney averaging just 12.60.

HUSSIE IS GOODBYE

David Hussey coached his last game with the Stars after accepting the role of head of men’s cricket at Victoria Cricket. In his four years with the Stars, he won 26 of 59 games with a 44% success rate. His tenure was ended with a final appearance in the first season and a wooden spoon in the last.

Originally published as BBL final ends as Sydney Thunder narrowly escapes disaster