The undermanned Sixers were rank underdogs in the eyes of most, but no one told young gun Hayden Kerr, who stepped up to save Sydney in a remarkable BBL challenger.
Hayden Kerr is the early favourite to be Australian of the Year in 2023 after the Sixers rookie produced the knock of his life to help Sydney to one of the most incredible final-ball wins in BBL history.
The Sixers were undermanned, under pressure and rank underdogs in the eyes of most experts, but thanks to Kerr’s unbeaten 98 off 58, their season isn’t over after a stunning four-wicket win over the Adelaide Strikers.
With the team’s leading run-scorer Josh Philippe joining the Edwards brothers in Covid isolation, and Daniel Hughes missing with an ankle injury, the men in magenta were given little hope against a Strikers side knocked out Sydney’s other franchise just a few days ago.
To make matters worse, Steve O’Keefe (calf) and Jordan Silk (hamstring) both picked up injuries in the first innings, which left them short of experience at the top of the order with Steve Smith’s potential return farcically blocked.
But the Sixers don’t deal with excuses, and it’s their next man up mentality that has them in line to claim a historic three-peat when they take on the Perth Scorchers on Friday night.
The talk heading into the Qualifier on Wednesday was how the Sixers could compete with so many batters out, but they needn’t have worried as their leading wicket taker showed he is more than handy with the willow.
Kerr was promoted to the top of the order and smashed a career-best knock to become the unlikeliest hero in the biggest match of his young career.
Kerr has dominated with the ball this season, but he’s no stranger to the willow given he opens the batting in club cricket. But even he couldn’t have predicted such a knock given he’d only scored 77 BBL runs before Wednesday.
In one of the most dramatic matches of all time, the Sixers needed 12 off the final over, and things started disastrously when Abbott (41 off 20) was dismissed off the first ball and Ben Dwarshuis was run out off the next delivery.
But that didn’t affect Kerr who smashed the fourth ball over the fence for six, before he clipped the fifth delivery for two runs.
Batting partner Silk, who was battling a hamstring injury, was then stunningly subbed out of the game, with Lenton coming in for the final ball.
Kerr didn’t hit it cleanly, but it didn’t matter as Lenton’s fresh legs helped them scramble through for two to produce wild scenes that rivalled a Nick Kyrgios-Thanasi Kokkinakis match on Kia Arena.
There will be injury concerns ahead of Friday’s final with skipper Moises Henriques also in doubt, but that will be at the back of their minds as they celebrate a stunning night that shows why they are the competition’s best franchise.
STRUCK OUT
The Strikers had more than enough chances to win this one, and they will rue a couple of costly misses.
Alex Carey should have stumped Kerr off the first delivery of the innings, while Matt Renshaw dropped an absolute sitter later in the innings.
The Strikers batter may have replaced mango seltzers as the drop of the summer when he put down an absolute sitter in front of the rowdy fans in the Bill O’Reilly Stand.
To make matters worse, skipper Peter Siddle was the bowler, and the fiery quick gave his teammate a look that could have killed. If only he knew what was to follow.
Jonathan Wells looked to have been the hero in their innings, but his 62 not out was meaningless in the end as Adelaide’s 4/167 just wasn’t enough.
Originally published as BBL challenger: Sydney Sixers through to final after last-ball thriller over Adelaide Strikers