Orange Crush

GH watches the Sixers fold to the Scorchers

‘No, yeah.’ Sometimes you’ve got to love the stump mic for what it makes clear. It was the last ball of the eighth over of Sydney Sixers’s stuttering innings against the Perth Scorchers last night. Moises Henriques had slid a ball to backward point, thought better of a run, then thought better of thinking better, and pushed through for a single.

Such moments always feel a little comradely - the elite are as prone to fluffing their lines as we mortals. But it also rather summed up the Big Bash League Decider for the Sixers, after their hectic week of criss-crossing the country ended in a hesitant display against their rampant hosts. For the Scorchers a sixth title, by six wickets with fifteen balls remaining; for the Sixers more frequent flier miles.

There were the preconditions of a memorable final - the competition’s best teams for many a season, a record Hazchem orange crowd to cheer on their local faves, a booming east coast television turn-out for the special guest stars Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc. It did not outlast the power play. Smith started where he left off against the Hurricanes - he must by now be sleeping in those anti-glare eye patches. Then he fell with surprising softness, a seemingly innocuous impact on the pad, and deafening loudness, an opportunistic lbw review upheld. Has Smith in Australia ever had his dismissal so roundly cheered?