BBL 2017/18 1st Match: Watson stars as Thunder triumph in last-ball thriller

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Shane Watson Sydney Thunder Sydney Sixers BBL cricket

Shane Watson struck six boundaries and six sixes during his knock of 77

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

The 2017/18 Big Bash League started with a bang as the Sydney Thunder skirted past the Sydney Sixers by five wickets off the last ball of the match.

Thunder captain Shane Watson starred with the bat, smashing a 46-ball 77, while Arjun Nair took two wickets and worked together with Aiden Blizzard to lead their side home in the final over.

Choosing to bowl first, the Thunder got an early breakthrough as Mitchell McClenaghan took out Sixers opener Jason Roy for two runs.

Nic Maddinson was looking in great form early on in his innings, but his charge was halted when he was given out lbw off the bowling of Fawad Ahmed for 31.

Skipper Moises Henriques was the next to go, while opener Daniel Hughes, who has survived up to this point, managed to score 29 before becoming Fawad’s second victim.

With wickets continuing to fall at regular intervals, Sam Billings and Steve O’Keefe provided a big spark for the Sixers towards the end of their innings as they scored 32 and 19 respectively.

Thanks to their efforts, the Sixers finished on 149/9 off their 20 overs.

McClenaghan, Fawad and Nair picked up two wickets apiece, while Andrew Fekete chipped in with one.

Chasing 150 to win, the Thunder lost opener Jos Buttler on the sixth ball of their innings as he was caught and bowled by Daniel Sams for a duck.

Kurtis Patterson and Watson steadied the ship with a 75-run partnership before Patterson was cleaned up by Sams for 29.

Ben Rohrer and Ryan Gibson only scored seven and eight runs respectively, while Watson went on to make 77 off 46 balls, which included six boundaries and six sixes, before he became Sams’ fourth victim.

Despite Watson’s efforts, the Thunder still faced an uphill battle going into the final over as they required 15 runs to win.

Nair managed to score nine runs off the first three balls before Blizzard mustered five runs off the next two, which left the Thunder needing just one run to win off the last ball of the match.

Nair managed to get the job done as he scampered home after hitting the final ball of the match to cover point.

Sams was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Johan Botha claimed one.

Watson was named Man of the Match.

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