The 22nd T20 match of the KFC Big Bash League was fought between Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder at Carrara Oval, Queensland on 1 January 2021. Sydney Thunder had won the toss and invited the opposition to bat first. Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh were sent to the crease to open. Daniel Sams got the new ball in hand.
At the beginning of the inning, Aaron Finch played some nice shots but had to go with the entry of Nathan McAndrew in the 3rd over. Melbourne was at the score of 35 runs at the end of the first Powerplay. The Renegades again lost their 2 more wickets very soon and the team came under pressure. Then Nabi came to join Shaun Marsh and both made a very crucial partnership of 90 runs for their team. Finally, Melbourne Renegades added a total of 166 runs to the scoreboard in 17 overs because of an excellent 87 runs from Marsh and 33 runs from Nabi. Nathan McAndrew did a superb job with the ball and dismissed 3 wickets of Melbourne in the match.
The Thunder needed 167 runs to win the match. Khawaja and Hales were sent to chase the target. Kane Richardson got the new ball. That was an explosive start for the Thunder as they had added 52 runs at the end of the 4 overs at the loss of 1 wicket. Alex Hales was sent by Perry but he had done his job with 45 runs off just 19 balls. Usman Khawaja was looking good and had made 48 runs from 34 balls. After the end of the 12th over, Sydney was at the score of 117 runs, and then the rain stopped the game again.
The result was decided on the basis of the DLS method. Thus, Sydney won the match by 7 runs as per the DLS method. Alex Hales was the Player of the Match.