Sixers snog
The batsmen chat while the spectators kiss at the cricket Big Bash 'local derby' Sydney Sixers vs. Sydney Thunder.
Thunder (in green) scored 202 for the loss of five wickets, more than 10 an over. This was too steep a run chase for the pink-clad Sixers. At 2-101 from nine overs they were in with a chance, but Brad Haddin was dismissed and then Nic Maddinson broke his bat on 68. He was caught off Fawed Ahmed soon after for 70 and the Sixers lost wickets from there, all out 156.
Thunder's Shane Watson (in foreground, he scored 66 runs off 41 balls for Thunder) and Michael Hussey (Mr Cricket scored 41 from 29) are in the picture, and errant West Indian Andre Russell (at left), batting for Thunder, hit four 6's in scoring 46 off 20. At the wicket are Sixers batsmen Maddinson and Jordan Silk. The loss cemented the Sixers at the bottom of the table while the Thunder are somewhere in the middle.
The game had been sold out for a week or two, and the crowd was 38,456, a NSW domestic cricket crowd record. A good time was had by all (15-20 minute food and beer queues in the Brewongle stand were a minus).
I missed the daytime women's game, which is catching on. The fifth year of Big Bash League, or BBL, is now one of the top 10 most watched sports leagues based on average sports crowds of 28,279 before this game. It's behind the NFL and English Premier League, but ahead of Japanese professional baseball (no small feat, as anyone trying to get a ticket to a Tokyo Yomiuri Giants game can attest).
Sixers snog
The batsmen chat while the spectators kiss at the cricket Big Bash 'local derby' Sydney Sixers vs. Sydney Thunder.
Thunder (in green) scored 202 for the loss of five wickets, more than 10 an over. This was too steep a run chase for the pink-clad Sixers. At 2-101 from nine overs they were in with a chance, but Brad Haddin was dismissed and then Nic Maddinson broke his bat on 68. He was caught off Fawed Ahmed soon after for 70 and the Sixers lost wickets from there, all out 156.
Thunder's Shane Watson (in foreground, he scored 66 runs off 41 balls for Thunder) and Michael Hussey (Mr Cricket scored 41 from 29) are in the picture, and errant West Indian Andre Russell (at left), batting for Thunder, hit four 6's in scoring 46 off 20. At the wicket are Sixers batsmen Maddinson and Jordan Silk. The loss cemented the Sixers at the bottom of the table while the Thunder are somewhere in the middle.
The game had been sold out for a week or two, and the crowd was 38,456, a NSW domestic cricket crowd record. A good time was had by all (15-20 minute food and beer queues in the Brewongle stand were a minus).
I missed the daytime women's game, which is catching on. The fifth year of Big Bash League, or BBL, is now one of the top 10 most watched sports leagues based on average sports crowds of 28,279 before this game. It's behind the NFL and English Premier League, but ahead of Japanese professional baseball (no small feat, as anyone trying to get a ticket to a Tokyo Yomiuri Giants game can attest).