BBL 7: Match 1, Sydney Thunder vs Sydney Sixers – Statistical Highlights

The Big Bash League 2017-18 started off with a thrilling finish in the opening game between the Sydney Thunder and the Sydney Sixers. In the Sydney derby that went down till the last ball, the home team Thunder sneaked in with a 5-wicket win. After a quick-fire start, Sixers’ progression was halted by Fawad Ahmed and Arjun Nair as the visiting side had to settle with 149/9 on the board. Shane Watson led his team from the front with a blistering 77-run knock before getting out in the 18th over. Arjun Nair turned up with the bat as well by hitting a couple of fours in the final over when they needed 15 runs.

All the stats and numbers that were recorded during the Big Bash League 2017-18 opener:

1 – Daniel Sams’ 4/14 in the game are the joint best bowling figures in the BBL games between Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. Fawad Ahmed took 4/14 for Thunder in the previous edition. This was also the first 4-wicket haul in the BBL Sydney derby for a Sixers bowler.

2 – Sydney Thunder’s successful chase on the last ball is their 2nd such win in the BBL. They defeated Melbourne Stars in the previous edition when Eoin Morgan hit a six on the final ball. This was also the 2nd time when Sixers lost while defending in a game that went down to the final ball. They were defeated by the Perth Scorchers in the 2014/15 Finals in a similar instance.

4/14 – Daniel Sams’ bowling figures of 4/14 are the best figures for any player on Big Bash League debut. Ben Edmondson of Perth Scorchers is the only other bowler to take a 4-wicket haul on BBL debut. He recorded figures of 4/40 against Hobart Hurricanes in Perth in the 2011/12 edition.

8.1 – Jos Buttler’s batting average in his last ten Twenty20 innings. He had scores of 26, 5, 3, 11, 5, 4, 15, 11 and 1 in the previous nine innings in the Bangladesh Premier League before bagged a duck on his BBL debut.

77 – Shane Watson’s innings of 77 in this game is his highest individual score in the BBL. His previous highest was 66 also against Sydney Sixers for the Thunder. Overall, this was the 4th fifty in the 18 BBL games for Watson.