Sensational Abbott rescues Sixers in final-ball thriller

Sydney Sixers star Sean Abbott produced perhaps the greatest all-round performance in KFC BBL history to steal his side a remarkable victory over Brisbane Heat in a low-scoring thriller at the SCG.

Chasing just 106 to win, the Sixers fell apart to be 8-47 in the 13th over, before Abbott (37no) combined with Ben Dwarshuis (23no) to resurrect the innings and produce a barely-believable get-out-of-jail triumph.

The Heat won the toss, batted and were promptly rolled for 105 in 19.1 overs, but when the Sixers slipped to 2-0 just seven balls into their run chase, the Brisbane bowling group sensed a stunning upset just might be on the cards.

From the field, Sixers batter Dan Hughes suggested on the player mic that the pitch was more worn than perhaps the Heat batters had realised, with commentator Brad Haddin echoing the sentiment, and suspecting it was in fact a wicket on which 140 would be a competitive score.

None of that really mitigated a catastrophic showing from the Heat batters, who for the second time in three nights found themselves two wickets down inside two overs after Jimmy Peirson's elevation to opener ended with the skipper caught at deep square for a four-ball duck. 

This time two became three in the fourth over when Chris Lynn (2) found himself victim of the catch of BBL|11 to date.

With left-armer Dwarshuis angling across him, Lynn pounced on a fuller delivery and blazed a full-blooded cover drive into what initially appeared vacant space. But intercepting the ball via a full-length dive and an outstretched right arm was Abbott, whose flying grab brought to mind that of teammate Jordan Silk's eight summers ago.

Abbott at that point already had the wicket of Tom Cooper (7), and he added the Heat's three top scorers to his wickets column – Ben Duckett (21), Max Bryant (22) and X-factor Jack Wildermuth (27) – as the visitors' innings steadily unravelled.

Wildermuth's inclusion as an extra batting option cost Brisbane the spin option of Matt Kuhnemann, who was their best bowler in Monday's loss to the Melbourne Stars.

Not that it seemed he would have much to bowl at; no Heat partnership reached 25 as Dwarshuis (2-13) and Hayden Kerr (2-18) joined Abbott (4-31) with multiple wickets, the latter taking the Golden Cap as the tournament's leading wicket-taker thus far.

At that point, the result seemed all but a formality, but when Josh Philippe mistimed his second ball straight to mid-off from Mark Steketee, and Xavier Bartlett produced a delicious outswinger to dismiss James Vince first ball, the Heat sniffed the impossible.

The wickets kept tumbling. James Bazley removed Hughes (6) with the last ball of the fourth over, then Wildermuth had Jordan Silk (3) prodding to point with the first ball of the sixth.

At 4-26, veteran pair Moises Henriques (15) and Dan Christian (2) were charged with restoring order, but succeeded only in adding to the chaos; Christian miscued out to deep cover and Henriques edged behind off Mujeeb Ur Rahman, with Peirson taking an excellent low catch.

When Kerr (2) fell to a sharp catch from Bryant at backward point to give Bazley a second wicket, and Shadab Khan fell to Wildermuth for eight, the scoreboard read a scarcely believable 8-47 and the Sixers found themselves faring worse than England at the MCG.

Yet there was still a twist in the tale.

Having shown he can do most things on a cricket field, Abbott reminded onlookers of his talents with bat in hand, the hard-hitting right-hander capitalising on the power surge to somehow resuscitate his side.

Teaming up with his new-ball partner Dwarshuis, the duo put on 30 from 12 balls with the field up, with Abbott lacing a pair of sixes to shift the momentum of proceedings.

It left the equation at 24 from 24 with two wickets in hand, and amid clever singles, canny bowling, cramping quicks (Wildermuth), and no shortage of plays and misses, the Sixers were left needing just two to win from the final over, to be bowled by the outstanding Bartlett. 

Still there was more drama.

From the first five balls, the Sixers pair managed just one risky single, as Bartlett landed a couple of perfect yorkers to ensure magenta nerves were jangling until the last.

But tonight's script was always written for Abbott, and from the final ball he took a couple of quick steps down the pitch and on drove wide of a short midwicket, wrapping up one of the more extraordinary matches with fire in his eyes and ice in his veins.

The win puts the Sixers back on top of the BBL|11 table after seven games, while the Heat remain in fifth place with two wins.