Botha smashed three boundaries and two sixes during his innings of 41

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Adelaide Strikers captain Johan Botha led by example as he hammered an unbeaten 41 to not only help his side beat the Sydney Sixers by 23 runs, but also secure them a spot in the semi-finals.

However, Sixers batsman Jordan Silk deserves a lot of credit for his valiant knock of 67.

Botha would have been pleased with his decision to bat first after his side got off to a solid start before Tim Ludeman was caught behind off the bowling of Doug Bollinger for 31.

Jono Dean only made 13 runs before he was caught behind off the bowling of Steve O’Keefe.

Craig Simmons managed to make 46 runs, which came off 34 balls and included seven boundaries, before he was caught behind off the bowling of Sean Abbott.

Travis Head mustered nine runs before he was clean bowled by Nathan Lyon.

Ryan ten Doeschate made a quickfire 26 before he was run out by Abbott.

Alex Ross scored six runs before he was given out lbw off the bowling of Sixers skipper Moises Henriques.

Thanks to Botha’s unbeaten knock of 41, which came off just 19 balls and included three boundaries and two sixes, the Strikers finished on 182/6 off their 20 overs.

Bollinger, O’Keefe, Lyon, Abbott and Henriques picked up one wicket apiece.

Chasing 183 to win, the Sixers got off to a terrible start as they collapsed to 79/6 in the 13th over.

Silk and O’Keefe somewhat stemmed the bleeding with a 22-run partnership before O’Keefe was clean bowled by Botha for five runs.

Brett Lee scored seven runs before he was caught by Adam Zampa at point off the bowling of Kane Richardson.

Silk went on to score 67 off 34 balls, which included seven boundaries and three sixes, before he was run out by Ben Laughlin.

Silk’s gutsy knock of 67 went in vain

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

The Sixers were bowled out for 159 when Bollinger was run out by Ludeman for a diamond duck.

Botha, Richardson and Shaun Tait snapped up two wickets apiece, while Laughlin and Zampa claimed one wicket each.

Botha was named Man of the Match for scoring 41 runs and taking two wickets.