Sixers sizzle at the SCG to deny Thunder a home final

Ellyse Perry’s heroics on the Sydney Cricket Ground have earned the Sixers bragging rights in the Sydney Smash and denied the Thunder a home final.

Perry smacked an unbeaten 82 off 60 balls to steer the Sixers to their target of 124 with nine wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare.

The Thunder needed to win the game to jump up the WBBL table into second spot, which would have given them direct entry to Wednesday’s Challenger final.

Instead, they will head directly from the SCG to the airport to board a flight to Perth, and will play Brisbane Heat on Tuesday in the Eliminator final at the WACA Ground.

The winner of that game will play the Scorchers on Wednesday for a spot in Saturday’s final against the Strikers.

The Sixers were knocked out of finals contention on Friday but were dominant in front of a record regular-season crowd of 7118 at the SCG.

Allrounder Ashleigh Gardner (4-26) starred with the ball, bowling Thunder opener Tahlia Wilson in the third over.

Chamari Athapththu (26 off 31), Phoebe Litchfield (34 off 25) and captain Heather Knight (38 off 38) all made starts without going on with it, as the Sixers picked up wickets at critical moments.

Gardner also accounted for the in-form Athapaththu, while Perry removed Litchfield.

While Knight dug in, the wickets tumbled at the other end, with no other batter scoring more than four as the Thunder lost five wickets for 10 runs in the final two overs.

Chasing 124 runs, Perry saved her best knock of the tournament for last.

She hit Marizanne Kapp for back-to-back fours in the 18th over that sealed the result with 15 balls to spare.

Suzie Bates (18) was the only wicket to fall, stumped off a leg-side Hannah Darlington wide, and Gardner joined Perry to see the Sixers home with 15 balls to spare.

Weber WBBL|09 Standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	14	11	3	0	0	1.154	0	22
2 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	14	8	6	0	0	0.784	0	16
3 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	14	8	6	0	0	0.203	0	16
4 Sydney Thunder Women THU	14	7	6	0	1	0.298	0	15
5 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	14	7	7	0	0	-0.253	0	14
6 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	14	6	7	0	1	-0.597	0	13
7 Melbourne Stars Women STA	14	6	8	0	0	-0.779	0	12
8 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	14	2	12	0	0	-0.978	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points