The 56th T20 match of the KFC Big Bash League was fought between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on 26 Jan 2021. The Sixers won the toss and invited the Stars to bat first. Marcus Stoinis and Seb Gotch were sent to open for the Stars. Jackson Bird got the ball to open the attack.
At the beginning of the inning, the Stars had made 32 runs at the end of the first mandatory Powerplay but lost Marcus Stoinis very soon. After the Powerplay, Sydney bowled well and dismissed two more quick wickets of Stars. After losing 3 wickets at the score of 46 runs, Melbourne had come under pressure. But Glen Maxwell at the number 4th position played carefully with Hilton Cartwright and handled the situation. Both built a crucial partnership of 56 runs that helped the Stars to put a total of 177 runs on the scoreboard. Sydney Sixers got a challenging target of 178 runs from 120 balls. Glenn Maxwell made 66 runs from 41 runs for his team. Ben Dwarshuis was the most successful bowler of Sixers and took 3 wickets.
Josh Philippe and James Vince were sent at the beginning to chase the target. Sam Rainbird got the responsibility to open the attack. Sydney Sixers struggled at the start of the chase and lost its 2 quick wickets in the first two overs. Moises Henriques joined James Vince and built up a much-needed partnership of 75 runs for 2nd wicket. Afterward, Vince was sent back by Maddinson, and Henriques was also run out by Maddinson. The situation was dangerous for the Sixers but an awesome match-winning inning of Daniel Christian of unbeaten 49 runs made the target achievable. Sidney Sixers got the target in 19.5 overs with one ball left.
Sydney Sixers won the 56th BBL match of the 2020-21 season by 5 wickets and Ben Dwarshuis was given the Man of the Match title.
Stats - Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Sixers Head to Head