‘Only he will know’ – James Vince opens up after Andrew Tye’s wide controversy in BBL 2020-21 Qualifier

James Vince had every chance of scoring his second T20 century on Saturday, but he couldn’t accomplish the milestone despite staying unbeaten until the very end. Andrew Tye bowled a bouncer down the leg-side and the on-field umpire adjudged the delivery as a wide, pulling down the curtains on the game and also on Vince’s chance of notching a century.

It happened during the 2020-21 Big Bash League (BBL) Qualifier between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.  After he missed out, the Scorchers’ players, including Jason Roy, Vince’s England teammate, shook hands with him.

A hundred would have been nice: James Vince

On being asked about the wide, Vince threw the ball on Tye’s court, saying that only the speedster would be aware of his intentions. The right-hander, however, was happy, after the Sixers qualified for the final to be played on February 6 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“Only he will know (if the wide was intentional from Tye). A hundred would have been nice but happy to be there and in the grand final.

“Don’t want to point fingers. It almost hit him on the toes, it was pretty short. I hope he didn’t mean it anyway,” Vince was quoted as saying after the game.

Later, former England cricketer Michael Vaughan also lashed out at Tye for bowling the wide. “No one can tell me that he didn’t mean to do that … !! Poor form from AJ Tye ..,” Vaughan’s tweet read.

Vince was at his very best when the Sixers were asked to chase down 168 by Ashton Turner and Co. He opened the batting along with Josh Philippe and put on 92 runs for the opening wicket with his partner off a mere 53 balls.

He looked fluent from the outset and hardly allowed the in-form Scorchers’ bowlers to settle down. In the end, he stayed not out on 98 runs from 53 balls with the help of 14 fours and one six.

After his partnership with Philippe, he cobbled together an unbeaten 76-run partnership with Daniel Hughes, who scored a run-a-ball 21, playing second-fiddle.