| Big Bash League, Hobart |
| Sydney Sixers 177-5 (20 overs): Christian 50 (16) |
| Adelaide Strikers 139-7 (20 overs): O’Keefe 2-8 |
| Sydney Sixers won by 38 runs |
| Scorecard |
Dan Christian hit the second-fastest half-century in Big Bash history to propel the Sydney Sixers to a 38-run win against the Adelaide Strikers.
Christian reached 50 from only 15 balls in Hobart to help the defending champions reach 177-5 from 20 overs.
The 37-year-old then struck with the ball, removing Sussex’s Phil Salt for 28 to end a rapid start to the chase.
Adelaide ended on 139-7, with Carlos Brathwaite, Steve O’Keefe and Ben Manenti taking two wickets each.
The Strikers at least took the Bash Boost point for having the better score after 10 overs, while the Sixers climb to third – three points behind leaders Hobart Hurricanes with a game in hand.
Christian’s assault was all the more remarkable given the struggles his team-mates had experienced earlier against the moving ball.
The Sixers were labouring on 58-3 after one ball of the 12th over when Christian arrived at the crease but the man who captained Nottinghamshire to the T20 Blast title in the past summer then belted five sixes and four fours.
The only quicker half-century in the BBL is the 12-ball 50 smashed by West Indies batsman Chris Gayle for the Melbourne Renegades against the Strikers in 2016.
Although Salt and Jake Weatherald gave Adelaide a flying start, they were tied down in the middle overs by the off-spin of Manenti, the experience of left-arm spinner O’Keefe and the tricks of Christian, who took 1-25 from his four overs.
