Henriques powers Sixers' winning start

Moises Henriques led from the front with a belligerent 53 not out off 27 balls as Sydney Sixers began their Big Bash League 2024-25 campaign with a five-wicket victory over Melbourne Renegades at the SCG on Monday (December 16). Tim Seifert and Will Sutherland laid the platform for Renegades' challenging total of 169/7. Sixers were in a spot of bother at 126/5 in the 15th over of the chase but Henriques, who struck three sixes and four fours, helped them over the line comfortably in the end as they won with 1.3 overs to spare.

Asked to bat, Renegades' openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Josh Brown struck quick-fire 20s to get their team off to a good start. But the Sixers came back well with the ball, bagging regular wickets to apply the brakes on the scoring. From 60/1 in the sixth over, Renegades slipped to 92/5 in the 12th as Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis led their comeback.

Seifert and Sutherland put on a good partnership for the sixth wicket to help Renegades recover from the collapse, with the former bringing up a 39-ball fifty. Following Seifert's dismissal in the 17th over, Sutherland and the lower order batters struck three fours between them to get 27 off the last three overs.

James Vince struck three fours in the first two overs to get Sixers going in the chase but Josh Philippe, dropped by Sutherland at slip, fell to Tom Rogers soon after. The boundaries, meanwhile, continued to flow as Vince and Jack Edwards powered Sixers past 50 inside five overs. They added 62 for the second wicket before Edwards, Vince and Jordan Silk fell in quick succession as the Renegades fought back in the middle overs. From 81/1, they slipped to 104/4.

Henriques was on 25 off 15 when Joel Davies became the fifth to depart. Sixers needed 44 off the last five overs when Henriques took charge. Having struck boundaries off Rogers and Kane Richardson, he hit two sixes in an over off Adam Zampa, leaving Sixers needing only eight in the last two overs. Dwarshuis finished it off with a six and a four off Sutherland as Sixers got off to a winning start.

Brief scores:
Melbourne Renegades 169/7 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 55, Will Sutherland 36*; Sean Abbott 2-34) lost to Sydney Sixers 172/5 in 18.3 overs (Moises Henriques 53*, James Vince 40; Will Sutherland 2-20) by 5 wickets.