9.30pm Well, that's all the action from the SCG. But there's plenty more Boxing Day cricket left. It's a double-header day in the BBL, so you can head over to our coverage of Perth Scorchers' game against Brisbane Heat, where the hosts have lost Finn Allen for a five-ball duck already. And there are a couple of Boxing Day Tests underway as well, in South Africa and in Zimbabwe. Plenty to keep you entertained, then! Anyway, on behalf of everyone at ESPNcricinfo, this is Abhimanyu signing off.
9.20pm On January 23, 2018, Nic Maddinson hit six fours from a James Faulkner over in their match against. That helped the Sixers register the highest completed run chase at the SCG in the BBL. IT held that record until today, when Stars' Ben Duckett hit Sixers' Akeal Hosein for six fours in an over, but it was again the Sixers who completed a record chase to go top of the table with three wins in three. Stars, despite Duckett's excellent innings, remain winless. In the end it was a battle of two English openers. While Duckett slammed 68 off 29 as Stars registered the best powerplay score of the season so far. But Sixers pulled things back in the back end to keep them down to 194 when a 200-plus total was on the card for the longest time. Then it was all about James Vince. He got set in as Josh Philippe smashed a 23-ball 42. But once Philippe and Henriques fell in quick time, Vince flicked a switch and put on an exhibition in strokeplay, with his inside-out shots against the spinners standing out. He finally got his first BBL century, finishing unbeaten on 101, while Jordan Silk finished with an unbeaten 34 as Sixers romped to victory.
Here's what player-of-the-match Vince had to say: "Got a few nineties so it's great to get there. And more importantly to get the win. [On the target] Historically on the ground that's a pretty big score. They obviously got into a position to get to 220-plus so we knew conditions were good. And we got a decent start."
Looks like Vince will stay unbeaten on 101, with Sixers just one run away from a famous victory
END OF OVER:18 | 13 Runs | SS: 194/2 (1 run required from 12 balls, RR: 10.77, RRR: 0.50)
- Jordan Silk30 (18b)
- James Vince101 (58b)
- Marcus Stoinis4-0-38-0
- Usama Mir4-0-43-1
Rob: "The only thing that decision chamnged is the sixers winning by 8 wickets instead of 7."
Shubha : "@ prakash : Vince was TYEd then!!!"
Just nine runs needed now
Prakash: "Every time Vince is around an 100, I am reminded of that unfortunate time he got stranded on 98 after that wide." Well, no such trouble for him today!
Matthew: "The BBL has struggled with umpiring issues for most of its existence. Last couple of seasons were much better, but it seems we're regressing again. "
Sixers just 14 runs away from the highest successful chase in the BBL at the SCG!
Richard A: "15.3 - tbf, in the days before DRS, the umpire said 'not out' every tme unless it was taking a big piece of middle stump as well -- it's not too bad these days if the umpire gets some doubt about which 1cm of leg stump the ball is hitting."
END OF OVER:17 | 12 Runs | SS: 181/2 (14 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 10.64, RRR: 4.66)
- Jordan Silk18 (13b)
- James Vince100 (57b)
- Usama Mir4-0-43-1
- Marcus Stoinis3-0-25-0
Tim: "That's an unbelievable decision to give not out. It needed to travel 30cm from foot to stumps and hit in line. Terrible call from the ump, umps call on drs shouldn't apply there. There's no prediction that could go wrong that close. Of course it's clipping but there's no way it could possibly miss."