Hales hammers Sixers' finals hopes

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Too good ... the Renegades celebrate a wicket at the SCG. Source: Phil Hillyard / News Limited

English opener Alex Hales ended Sydney Sixers' KFC T20 Big Bash League title defence in spectacular style as the table-topping Melbourne Renegades sounded an ominous warning ahead of the finals.

T20 - Sydney Cricket Ground

9 January 2013 - Day 1, Session 2

Sixers 1st Innings

B. Lee	10	11	1	0	90.91
L. Feldman	2	2	0	0	100
W. Sheridan	4	0	28	3	7.00

Hales, signed as injured Jamaican Marlon Samuels' replacement on Tuesday, walloped 89 from 52 balls, smashing eight sixes to lift the Renegades to a total of 5-178 and a 29-run victory.

The performance came less than 12 hours after he completed the exacting journey from London to Sydney, but the 24-year-old showed no signs of jetlag in Wednesday night's easy win.

"I was lucky enough to get a bit of sleep on the plane,'' Hales said.

"I knew if I got through the tough bit at the start with Brett Lee bowling very well, then it was a pretty good deck and I could make up for it later on."

And how.

		P	W	L	Pts	NNR
1	Renegades	8	7	1	14	0.791
2	Stars	8	5	3	10	0.246
3	Scorchers	7	4	3	8	0.632
4	Strikers	7	4	3	8	0.53
5	Hurricanes	7	4	3	8	-0.287
6	Heat	7	3	4	6	0.129
7	Sixers	8	3	5	6	-0.38
8	Thunder	8	0	8	0	-1.36

After a slow start by the visitors, who opted to bat first, Hales turned the game on its head when he single-handedly plundered 22 runs from Josh Hazlewood in the fifth over.

Hazlewood fumbled the one and only chance of Hales's innings and it was comfortably the most costly of the four catches the Sixers put down in front of 17,801 fans.

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Hales took a particular liking to the spin of Steve O'Keefe (0-50 from three overs), smacking four sixes off one over including a punishing blow over long on that travelled 111m and landed on the roof of the Members' Pavilion.

"There was a little bit of close your eyes and swing as hard as you can," Hales said.

Ben Rohrer (57), stand-in Renegades captain in the absence of Aaron Finch (national duty), shared a 112-run partnership with Hales and was in awe of the young gun who was in India three weeks ago with England's national T20 side.

"I think he was in business class and slept all the way, so he had no excuse," Rohrer laughed.

"I was wondering if the flight might have affected him, and I hope it has to be honest because it'll be pretty special if it gets better than that.

"He played perfectly really ... he's done really well to adapt so quickly."

Hales's knock was the second best of the tournament, with Finch's unbeaten 111 in the season opener the only better effort.

His total of eight sixes was also the most for an innings this season.

The Sixers were a mathematical chance of sneaking into the top four and keeping their BBL title defence alive, but needed to reach the Renegades' total in approximately 12 overs and also rely on other results going their way.

The first hurdle always looked insurmountable, and so it proved as the Renegades made it seven wins from eight matches and rolled the Sixers for 149 with the last delivery of the game.

O'Keefe, who top-scored for the Sixers with 41, exacted a small degree of revenge with the bat when he pulled a short ball to Hales in the deep that the Englishman lost in the lights.

Relive the game with our Match Centre, featuring videos of every boundary and wicket!

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