Abbott five-for in vain as Strikers win big

Adelaide Strikers 9 for 152 (Dunk 37, Hodge 36, Abbott 5-16) beat Sydney Sixers 104 (Billings 40, Stanlake 3-17) by 48 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball updates

Despite the best efforts of Sean Abbott – who avenged his mauling by Travis Head here last New Year – the Adelaide Strikers saw in 2017 in style by comfortably defending their modest total of 152 with an outstanding bowling display that gave them their first win of the Big Bash League in a match that was attended by 45,741 fans.

Abbott recorded just the fifth five-for in BBL history, and the competition’s best figures since 2012, but Sixers’ batting crumbled in a heap at Adelaide Oval to lose six wickets inside 25 runs as they were bowled out 104 in the 19th over.

Abbott’s revenge not enough The 2015 edition of this fixture – a quite extraordinary game – will be remembered longest for Head’s assault on Abbott; 51 runs from 16 balls gave Strikers the unlikeliest victory and sent Adelaide into raptures.

It was a different story this time round. Abbott came on for the first time in the tenth over, with the Strikers – with Brad Hodge backing up Ben Dunk – 89 for 1 and cruising. With his fourth ball, Abbott made Dunk pick out short cover, then dismissed Hodge – caught well by the sprinting Johan Botha at cow corner – and that man Head, who Will Somerville dived athletically to catch at fine leg, in his next over. Next over, Jake Lehmann played all around Somerville – who cancelled a holiday celebrating his wedding anniversary to play – and …

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