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Sixers star falls agonisingly close of a century in Sydney Smash win
SEN • December 21st, 2025 10:29 am
Sydney is magenta this summer after the Sixers beat the Thunder in the Sydney Smash on Saturday night.
After being sent into bat by Thunder skipper David Warner, the Sixers didn’t waste any time with all of their top three passing 25 runs.
The star of the show for the Sixers was easily Josh Philippe, who crunched a stunning 96 from 57 balls, falling just short of a maiden BBL century thanks to a controversial catch in the final over after Daniel Sams just got his fingers under a Nathan McAndrew ball.
The Sixers would have also loved to see high-profile recruit Babar Azam make his first score of the season with a classy 58 from 42.
That Philippe knock set the side up to make 5/198 from their 20 overs, and it was always going to be hard for the Thunder to chase near 10 an over.
That was proven early as all of the Thunder’s top four failed to pass 12 runs.
While Sam Billings (51) and Shadab Khan (41) steadied the ship, the home side was never really in it, reaching 151 from 19.1 overs.
After claiming their first win of the season, the Sixers now hold a 1-2 record, while the Thunder remain winless at 0-2.
The Thunder next play on Monday in Canberra against the Heat, while the Sixers next feature on Boxing Day against the Stars at the SCG.“Running for the hills”: Whateley slams England’s ‘hiding’ media approach
