The Sydney Sixers have gone down to the Brisbane Heat by 54 runs in the KFC BBL|13 Final in front of a pumping SCG crowd of 43,153.
It was the biggest BBL crowd ever to fill the iconic ground and also the biggest BBL crowd across the country this summer.
Chasing 167 to win a fourth BBL title, the Sixers were all out for 112 in the 18th over.
Captain Moises Henriques top scored for the hosts with 25 from 27 balls. Josh Philippe was next best with 23 off 22. Brisbane’s Spencer Johnson took 4-26 and was named Player of the Match.
Bowling in the first innings, Sean Abbott snared Jimmy Peirson for four with the fifth ball of the match before Brisbane’s man-of-the-moment Josh Brown and skipper Nathan McSweeney put on an 11-over 85-run stand until McSweeney fell to Ben Dwarshuis for 33 (32).
Then, with Brown threatening to take the game away from the men in pink, Sixers great Steve O’Keefe, bowling the last over of his storied career, struck for one last time – his 99th wicket in the Big Bash, trapping Brown LBW for 53 (38).
The Heat’s innings ended at 8-166, Abbott grabbing three wickets in his last over for figures of 4-32 and doing so becoming the first player to take four wickets in a BBL Final.
For the match’s scorecard, CLICK HERE.
For the full Cricket.com.au match report, CLICK HERE.