Twenty20 cricket is all about excitement, its all about aggression and if the first two matches of the 2011/2012 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash are anything to go buy, this is going to be the most interesting cricketing competition we have seen in a while.
Sydney Sixers Overcome The Brisbane Heat At The SCG
Kicking off the tournament we saw the new look Sydney Sixers playing host to the Brisbane Heat in front of an anxious crowd at the SCG on Friday night. The Heat batted first and kiwi import Brendon McCullum was struck in the face by a Brett Lee bouncer. McCullum was forced to leave the field. The Heat’s innings although played with a positive mindset, fell much to short of a decent target with the Heat failing to score a boundary in over 6 overs, almost unheard of in Twenty20 cricket. The Brisbane Heat would set a mild total of just 139 after a good bowling performance by the Sydney Sixers.
The runchase was pretty straight forward, the run rate was not too high at just 7 an over which in Twenty20 Cricket is the norm, especially in recent years. Australian wicket keeper, Brad Haddin proved once again why he is one of the best batsman in the shorter forms of the game, when he smashed a brilliant 76 off just 59 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes in the match winning performance. This brilliant innings set the win up and in the end the Sydney Sixers were able to cruise to victory with a couple of over’s to spare.
The Sydney Sixers won the opening KFC Big Bash Game by 7 wickets.
Shane Warne Returns To A Losing Effort In Melbourne
Without a doubt the biggest talking point of recent memory in Australian cricket, was Shane Warne making his comeback to play for the Melbourne Stars in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. His side the Melbourne Stars were sent in to bat and like in game 1, runs were proving difficult to come by and the Stars were struggling to set a decent total mid way through the first innings. David Hussy managed to steer the ship for the stars however, scoring a quick fire 52 before being run out trying to test the arm of David Warner. Hussy’s innings was crucial and backed up well by the lower order batsmen, with English import Luke Wright getting a important 27 in the Stars journey to scoring a total of 153 from their innings.
The duo of David Warner and Chris Gayle opening the batting for the Sydney Thunder did not work well in this game. Gayle was bowled early after suffering what looked like a hand injury just balls before. Warner was not to be beaten however and he put on one of the best innings ever seen in Big Bash history. Warner scored one of only a few Twenty20 centuries in history, being not out on 102 and steering the Sydney Thunder to a victory with a few over’s left to play in Melbourne. Any critics of Warner being the captain have now been put firmly into the rubbish bin. Shane Warne did not bowl the best spell on his return, finishing with figures of 0 – 19 off his two overs.
The Sydney Thunder won in Melbourne over the Stars by 6 wickets.
