Strikers captain Siddle cools on Silk retirement

Adelaide Strikers captain Peter Siddle says he doesn't have an issue with the retirement of injured Sydney Sixers batter Jordan Silk before the last ball of their thrilling 'Challenger' final despite an animated discussion with the umpires at the time.

Silk, who reinjured his hamstring in the field that kept him out of three matches earlier this month, was sensationally retired hurt by coach Greg Shipperd with the Sixers needing two to win from the final ball to advance to the KFC BBL|11 final against the Perth Scorchers on Friday night.

The right-hander had walked out to bat three balls earlier after the run out of Ben Dwarshuis for a diamond duck to target the short boundary but could only manage a single from his solitary ball faced.

Siddle appeared to be taken by surprise with the decision to retire Silk and ran towards the umpire waving his finger, but quickly calmed down when they explained the situation.

The 37-year-old said on the Fox Cricket broadcast after the match it was "just part of the game".

"He hurt it when he was fielding so there's an issue, but at the end of the day you can retire blokes," Siddle said.

"It's not actually a big issue, as soon as I brought it up with the umpires, obviously I was disappointed at the time, but it's just a retirement, isn't it? It happens more than we expect and sometimes it happens at crucial times.

"We gave ourselves a chance – missed opportunities cost us in the end."

The masterstroke from veteran coach Shipperd mattered little when the final ball went through Jon Wells' hands for four, as young allrounder Hayden Kerr finished 98 not out in a remarkable win against all odds.

Under BBL|11 playing conditions, a batter may retire at any time during their innings when the ball is dead, provided the umpires are informed of the reason.

Sixers captain Moises Henriques said as Silk wasn't able to face another ball and they needed that batter to run, they thought they'd retire him and put out someone who could.

"They (retirements) are clearly within the rules of the game," Henriques said on Fox Cricket. 

"Unfortunately, we had a guy go down with a hamstring, one of the fittest guys in the league, probably something to do with … so many back-to-back games.

"He normally bats No. 5, so the fact that he’s gone into bat at eight, I think we’re sacrificing enough as it is."

Henriques, who also hurt his calf during his own innings of 13, is one of four Sixers in a race against time to be fit for Friday's decider with Daniel Hughes (ankle), Silk and Steve O'Keefe (calf) all nursing injuries.

"It's going have to be a bloody bad calf for me not to play," he said after last night's game.

"A flight tomorrow won’t be amazing, but we'll see what happens. At this stage I think I'll be fine to play, and I'll just hobble around like an old bloke, but I've been doing that all year anyway."

Jay Lenton, the Sixers assistant coach who came in for Josh Philippe as wicketkeeper yesterday after his positive COVID-19 diagnosis, replaced Silk at the non-strikers' end and said it was a "frantic" few minutes.

"It was a bit bizarre to be honest," the left-hander said. "Sean got out, Ben got sent in, Ben got run out, I'm standing there going, 'Am I in?'. (Then it was) 'No, Silky go' and then all of a sudden it's like 'Get him off', so it's pretty frantic, it sums up the day to be fair.

"I don't believe anything was untoward in that circumstance, he's got a pretty bad hamstring and it happened in the game."

Lenton, who played 20 matches for the Sydney Thunder from BBL|06 to BBL|09, said he found out at 1pm on Wednesday that he was in the team.

He initially came into the Sixers squad in Coffs Harbour during the first week of January as a back-up during the first bout of COVID-19 cases.

"I did come in initially as a player and then I was kept on just to assist with throwdowns and with 'Flip' (Philippe)," he said. 

BBL|11 Final

Perth Scorchers v Sydney Sixers

Friday, January 28, Marvel Stadium, 7.40pm

Seven, Fox Cricket, Kayo and SEN