Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Sixers, 18th Match, Big Bash League 2025-26 - Commentary

The Sixers have started the New Year with a bash at the Docklands. The Scorchers are batting first in the day's second game and Mitch Marsh has started off with a bang. Change tabs and follow all the action from Match 19. For now, cheers and bye..

Sean Abbott | Player of the Match - I felt like it was a bit of a bowler-friendly wicket at the top, and I thought the Renegades boys played some nice cricket through the middle of the day, showing signs of really kicking that score on. A couple of wobbles there in the chase, but the way Jolly (Joe Davis) went out there and batted towards the end and steered us home. With Babar, I thought they went about it really well. (On Joel Davis) Good to see him go out there and play the way he did, and get some reward. He's been working his backside off, and we know how talented he is. He's been bowling really well and he's taken that into the batting time. I felt like it was a pretty tough weekend there tonight and Babar had to go through a few different stages of that innings there. Once we got up and went with a couple of partnerships there, it looked like he did in first gear in the end. The track was a bit of a heavy tent (on his bowling), so I didn't feel like I was running in too fast or bowling too fast, but nice to get some cricket tonight and to contribute. I'm not a great watcher of cricket, so I'm going to be back out there playing.

19:07 Local Time, 08:07 GMT, 13:37 IST: A​ comfortable win in the end and it's fair to say that 164 wasn't going to challenge this Sixers batting line-up a lot. Babar and Daniel Hughes took their time at the top and set-up the platform. Cameos from Josh Phillipe and Moises Hanriques kept them ahead of the chase with the latter maximising the power surge. But it was Joe Davies's unbeaten 15-ball 34 that really sealed the deal. He kept finding the boundaries in the 16th and the 17th over - 17 runs came off both openers and the tight chase was cracked open. Babar Azam held anchor at the other end and recorded a fine half-century, his 97th in T20s. This win pushes Sixers up to 5th with 4 points while the Gades stay 7th with two points. Presentations coming up shortly..