BBL 2025-26: All-round show from Sixers sees off Renegades challenge

The first of the double headers on New Year's Day witnessed a clash between Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. Both the teams entered the match with the aim of reviving their campaigns as they laid in the bottom half of the points table.

The visitors won the toss and elected to field first. The home team suffered an early blow as Jack Edwards went through the defence of Tim Seifert (8 off 6). Josh Brown was joined by Mohammad Rizwan and the duo took the team to the end of the powerplay without further damage (36/1).

Brown was the main architect of the partnership of 44 runs as Rizwan failed to get going. However, the former miscued a Hayden Kerr delivery and perished for quick 43 runs off 19 balls. Rizwan (6 off 10) fell soon after as the home team was left 61/3 after 6.4 overs.

Jake Fraser-McGurk and Oliver Peake took up the mantle and built an important 33-run partnership before Edwards struck again to send back Peake (13 off 14). Hassan Khan and Fraser-McGurk drove the team past 100 in the 13th over as the home team looked set for an attack. But, the latter fell to Sean Abbott for a well-made 38 runs off 29 balls while upping the ante.

Hassan Khan (39 off 29) grabbed the initiative to take his team to a competitive score. The 27-year-old American, with help from the lower order, guided the Renegades to a score of 164/9 in their 20 overs. For Sixers, Abbott was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-16-3 while Edwards, Kerr, and Ben Dwarshuis scalped two wickets each.

Daniel Hughes and Babar Azam started the chase steadily. The former mixed caution with aggression as his Pakistani batting partner seemed to be playing the long game. The Sixers reached 45 for no loss at the six-over mark and looked on track. But, Gurinder Sandhu provided the Renegades a much-needed wicket as Hughes went back to the hut for quick 30 runs off 23 balls.

Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe (16 off 12) came out with intent and scored a couple of boundaries before picking out sweeper cover. Skipper Moises Henriques joined Babar and the pair formed a crucial 42-run partnership to allow the Sixers to get into a position of advantage.

The Pakistani star batter continued to play the second fiddle as Henriques donned the role of an aggressor. The latter's innings was cut short abruptly (23 off 18) through a spectacular catch by Hassan Khan on the fence. Surprisingly, Dwarshuis was sent in at number 5 but the experiment failed big time as he was out for a golden duck.

The chase had entered a tricky phase as any wrong step now could have greatly hampered the Sixers' chances. Babar continued to hold one end up as he was joined by Joel Davies. The latter came out all guns blazing, putting all the jitters away. The whirlwind partnership of 51* runs off 26 balls saw the Sixers home with six wickets in hand and five balls remaining.

Davies scored a quickfire 34* off 15 balls as Babar (58* off 46) played the anchor's role. The Renegades bowlers displayed a competitive show, but were not good enough to upstage the visitors. Sean Abbott was adjudged the Player of the Match.