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The best defending side in the BBL, Sixers have made an art form of setting targets of close to 155 and restricting chasing teams at the SCG this season.
Data in the lead-up to Wednesday’s final showed Sixers have defended 77 percent of scores less than 160 when batting first across the past five years, compared with the competition-wide mark of 32 percent.
Despite that, Sixers made the call to bowl first at the SCG on Wednesday, and instead found themselves chasing 167 on a pitch that has proven hard to score on all season.
“In hindsight everything’s always a bit different, but we just thought it was going to get better to bat on under lights,” vice-captain Daniel Hughes said. “We could have restricted them to maybe a bit less as well, so instead of maybe 167, we could have maybe got them down to 150.But that wasn’t to be.”
Hughes conceded captain Moises Henriques’ Covid case had caused some headaches in the hours before the final, after he tested positive on Monday.
Henriques fronted a press conference and handled the trophy on Tuesday without telling present media or officials, but was told to keep his distance from players on Wednesday.
That prompted Hughes into doing the toss, while Henriques was made to sit away from the team before and during the match.
“You always want your leader there. He’s a fantastic leader,” Hughes said. “When we turned up here today [we found out] he couldn’t be around the team and couldn’t do the toss and just be around the boys.
“And just to sort of have that disruption at the start of play…it’s not an excuse, it’s just not [ideal].”
Sixers’ loss left retiring spinner Steve O’Keefe stuck on 99 BBL wickets, after he trapped Heat’s big-hitting opener Josh Brown lbw for 53.
O’Keefe plans to move to the NSW North Coast in coming months, and the 39-year-old said there is no chance of the lure of 100 wickets bringing him back for another season.
“I am officially, completely done,” O’Keefe said. “My highest first-class score is 99, 99 Big Bash wickets…it might be a nice pub story to tell my mates, stuck on 99.
“Hopefully not remembered too much for the wickets. This has been a great club over 13 years, and I’m just so proud to be a part of it. We’ve had a lot of success…my sixth final I think playing here. It’s a magic place at the SCG, I’m going to miss it.”
