Sydney Thunder 157 for 6 (Billings 42*, J Sangha 30, Kerr 2-35) won Sydney Sixers 151 for 7 (Seda 43*, Andrews 2-15, Agar 2-25) for four wickets
In response, England youngster Jafer Chohan was very impressive, but the Sixers didn’t have the volume of spin they could call on as Thunder set up a final showdown with the Hobart Hurricanes on Monday.
Jason Sangha opens up
Warner then took his first ball off Kerr for six, and Thunder flew away. But he took a bunt midway through the third over. Jason Sangha, meanwhile, had reached 30 off 19 balls at the other end, when he swept Chohan to deep mid-wicket, when the game really started to get tense.
A bailout
That’s when the Sixers pressed. Hugh Weibgen came up short against Kerr, and Thunder couldn’t find the big over that likely would have ended the game earlier. Chohan was superb, as he had been in the Qualifier final, and did not concede a boundary until the final delivery of his spell.
Thunder held off the surge until the 18th, and although George Garton fell across the line, Billings and Nathan McAndrew finished the job with some breathing room.
Tanveer’s fortune; Andrews’ double
Amid the loss of Edwards and Kurtis Patterson on the power play, which ended with the Sixers just 23 for 2, it was a struggle for the hosts. Josh Philippe, who had been demoted to No. 3 after failing to reach double figures in his last five innings, and Moisés Henriques, were beginning to lay out a platform when Henriques nailed a catch back to Tanveer, who dropped it, but he deflected the ball. ball to the stumps with Philippe out of his field.
Then, Andrews, who has had a huge impact on the Thunder’s run to the finals, further affected the Sixers’ middle order with two wickets in the 13th over. Firstly, Henriques was brilliantly caught in cover by Garton, diving wide to his left. Shaw then picked out Warner on the opposite side, and the Thunder captain was rewarded for his aggressive positioning on the field. Surprisingly, that was the last over of Andrews’ innings.
Silk’s sad endings
Silk was excellent in Hobart on Monday, when he had almost taken the Sixers to the finish line with 57. Against the Sixers in the Challenger, he had to do another rebuilding job with 76 for 5. He broke the shackles with a sweep for six off Tanveer Sangha. , and cleared the rope again in the power surge against Wes Agar.
The surge brought 20 runs from the two overs, before Dwarshuis was able to find his range against McAndrew in the 18th over, which cost 19 runs. It gave the Sixers something to defend, although in the end it wasn’t enough.
Andrew McGlashan is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo