Speaking on his side’s Super Over defeat to the Melbourne Stars, Ben Dwarshuis says after a loss like that there is always plenty of reflection on where the side could’ve saved the runs, and they’ll be working hard to get the little things right to climb back into the winners circle.
The Sixers flew out of the blocks with the bat, racing to 52 from the first six overs, but the loss of early wickets cost them as they could not accelerate through the middle overs, and instead finished with only 150 from their 20.
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As they have done before however, the Sixers bowling unit proved tough to get away, and it took a Super Over for the home town Stars to get the win.
Dwarshuis, 20 years old and in only his third game, was the leading wicket taker for the Sixers, and finished with figures of 2-31 from his four overs, grabbing the big scalps of Cameron White and Glenn Maxwell.
He said while it was his best BBL performance to-date, the team were disappointed to lose in dramatic circumstances.
“It was obviously disappointing, but I thought the bowlers did well trying to defend 150, and I thought Lumby batted really well, we were probably just a few runs short in the end,” he said.
“The batters would’ve assessed that after scoring 50 runs from the first six overs, they would’ve been aiming for 170 or 180, so we were probably around 20 runs short.
“We thought 150, while it was probably a few short of what we wanted, it was definitely enough. I thought we bowled pretty well, but there was probably a few areas where we maybe could’ve cut down one run in the field.
“In close matches like that, you always look back and think of 10-15 runs that you could’ve saved somewhere which could’ve made a difference.”
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Asked about the Coaches assessment of the performance, Dwarshuis said that while disappointed, Trevor Bayliss told his squad there was plenty to take from the match.
“He said that while it was disappointing that we lost, it was a good sign that everyone was disappointed about it. It showed that everybody cared.
“We got so close, but there is still so much room for improvement. It was a good sign that we got close to such a quality outfit while we weren’t playing our best cricket.”
Dwarshuis said that the Sixers next clash with the Brisbane Heat (January 11 @ the Gabba) now looks like a must win, but says that training this week won’t change too much from how the team has prepared so far.
“It would be nice to get a win up in Brisbane. I’ve watched a little bit of their matches, they’re a pretty strong outfit. On our day, we should be able to beat them.
“We’ll just keep doing more of the same stuff, and try to keep working on those one percenters that are able to help our game. We’ll be looking to do stuff so we can save ten runs when we’re bowling and get an extra ten when we’re batting.”
Dwarshuis has enjoyed a whirlwind start to his Big Bash career in his second season with the Sixers. He played in the Sixers first two wins of the season, capturing two wickets against the Renegades, but was forced out of the XI when Test quick Mitchell Starc returned.
On Monday night when he was tossed the ball, he was faced with the prospect of bowling to an intimidating batting line up including Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White, James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell.
“It was equal parts exciting and nerve wracking,” he said of the experience of bowling to Pietersen.
“It was definitely exciting to bowl to someone of his class and his quality, but it was nerve wracking when they team needed a breakthrough or a tight over.
“There was a few balls that I would like to have back again; a few too short or wide. But apart from that I thought that my areas where a lot better than they have been the past couple of games, and it was nice to pick up two wickets.”