Henriques hits Sixers to last-ball win over Scorchers

Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques has helped his team avert a late disaster and secure the coveted KFC BBL finals double-chance, beating the Perth Scorchers in a last-ball thriller at Optus Stadium.

After English import Laurie Evans' swashbuckling 72 off 34 balls steered the Scorchers to 4-197 on Tuesday night, the Sixers lost 4-5 off seven balls to nosedive from 3-181 to 7-186 before Henriques (47no off 20 balls) stepped up and sealed a gripping, vital five-wicket win.

The second-ranked Sixers will play top-of-the-table Brisbane Heat in Friday's Qualifier at Carrara Stadium, while the Scorchers, who slipped to third, will host the Adelaide Strikers in the sudden-death Knockout on Saturday.

Opener Daniel Hughes (74) anchored the Sixers' innings and was well supported by Josh Philippe (32) and James Vince (22).

With 17 required off the last two overs and seven wickets in the shed the chase was under control before Jason Behrendorff's 19th over reaped 3-3.

Ben Dwarshuis then fell at the start of the 20th at the set-batter in Henriques was watching the calamity helplessly from the non-striker's end.

Henriques finally got on strike with 11 needed off the last four balls and hit opposition skipper Aaron Hardie for 2-6-2-4 to stun the Scorchers, who had won six of their past seven against the Sixers and 17 of 18 at their Perth fortress.

Earlier, the Scorchers stalled before launching late, blasting 2-131 off their last 10 overs after being 2-66 from their first 10.

Evans was the key, signing off on an impressive campaign with another whirlwind knock, during which he took Hayden Kerr for 28 runs in one over of the Power Surge.

Evans will miss the upcoming finals as he heads to the UAE to play in the ILT20 competition and received a standing ovation when walked off after lofting Dwarshuis (2-23) to Jordan Silk, completing his summer as a Scorcher with 292 runs at 58.40 and a strike-rate of 189.61.

Sam Whiteman (17) gloved a catch behind and Stephen Eskinazi (7) retired hurt with a hand injury, both in the Powerplay, before Evans and Hardie went about setting the Sixers a stiff target, that they just edged past.

KFC BBL|13 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 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	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

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