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The Sydney Sixers have hung on to win what looked like a comfortable situation, until the last two overs at the SCG descended into chaos.
The rain-affected match was contested in just 14 overs apiece, and although the home side stumbled midway through their innings when they lost four wickets for just two runs, the early fireworks of Kurtis Patterson and Josh Philippe, along with some late power hitting from Hayden Kerr, allowed them to post a total of 6-137.
The near ten-an-over chase looked like it would be too much for the Hurricanes from the get-go, who lost D’arcy Short and Ben McDermott early on – but nobody told Asif Ali.
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The right-handed Pakistan international came to the crease with three-and-a-half overs to spare, and his team needing 66 to win.
In the penultimate over, Ali blasted three sixes and a four off the last four deliveries from Kerr, and it was the last that brought huge controversy – although it went for six, it was clearly above waist-height and should have been called a no ball.
The commentary booth was incensed as to why the third umpire couldn’t get involved.
“Should we be using the technology for that? It takes two seconds,” Adam Zampa said.
“If that was caught and given out, they would have checked it – so I don’t see the difference. The next ball goes for six it makes just as much difference to the game as a wicket.”
Instead, Ali was caught inches inside the boundary rope by Jordan Silk with five balls remaining, and the Sixers won by six runs.
“If there’s one bloke you want under it in that situation, it’s Jordan Silk,” Zampa said.
Ali ended with 41 off 13, including four boundaries and three sixes. Had that wicket ball been hit just a metre longer, it would have left the red-hot batter on strike, and his team needing just 10 from four balls.
“It just came from nowhere, that innings from Asif Ali – I think we’re all still a bit stunned,” Mark Howard said on commentary.
It was the Sixers’ first win of the year, after dropping both of their first two games to the Strikers and Scorchers.
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