Sixers clinch last-ball thriller to kick off WBBL campaign

After a thrilling last-ball victory over Brisbane Heat in Brisbane on Friday (October 30), the Sydney Sixers got off to a winning start in the 2026 Women's Big Bash. In their first game of the new season, the Sixers were on their way to a comfortable victory before a late collapse nearly cost them the game. With that result, Heat's wait for a win in the WBBL has now stretched beyond 700 days.

Heat got off to a fast start after being sent in when Charli Knott hit the first two balls of the match for boundaries and then cleared the ropes in the next over. Knott continued to sizzle with a flurry of boundaries even though she immediately lost her opening partner, Grace Harris. After that, Georgia Redmayne took over with consecutive goals, and the two of them dominated the game, bringing Heat to 79/1 at the halfway point.

The two batters had momentum all to themselves, so they partied hard and even scored their respective fifty runs in the same over. After that, Ashleigh Gardner returned to the attack to break the 97-run stand, which ultimately had a significant impact on the outcome. Heat stuttered at the death and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, sapping them of all the momentum they had gained up until then. Heat finished with only 154 runs, which was 20 runs short of where they were at one point given that only 37 were scored in the final five overs.

In the chase, the pattern was very similar as well. Sophia Dunkley dealt with boundaries throughout her quick start for the Sixers. After six overs, Sixers had already wiped out 53 runs from the target without losing a wicket. Even though Sianna Ginger gave Heat a timely breakthrough with Dunkley's dismissal, Sixers were comfortably placed. Perry at the other end went after Lucy Hamilton in the 13th over, scoring four boundaries in an 18-run over despite Amelia Kerr's lack of fluency in her innings.

Perry kept going, scoring her fifty with a four and a six off the next ball to bring the score to 41 off 36 with 8 wickets remaining after Kerr was bowled for an 18-ball duck. However, Heat turned the game around right at the end when it sent Gardner and Perry packing in consecutive overs. Heat struck at the other end while Alice Capsey continued to fight. After a crucial boundary, the score was 10 out of 8 and 5 out of 6. The Sixers needed two from the final ball, and another twist was on the way thanks to a couple of dot balls and a run out. After that, Sarah Coyte was able to find a gap between two fielders and score a boundary, giving her team an exciting victory.