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A blistering 85 from Josh Philippe has helped the Sydney Sixers to a seven wicket win over the Perth Scorchers at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Saturday night.
Liam Livingstone got the Scorchers innings off a flying start in the nation's capital, but regular wickets through the middle overs pulled the Scorchers back to 7-163, Philippe and Englishman James Vince then adding 106 for the second wicket to guide their team home with seven balls to spare.
Perth chose to bat upon winning the bat flip and made a lightning start courtesy of openers Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone, scoring at ten runs to the over as boundaries flew all around the ground from the English duo.
Roy was bowled by Dan Christian having made 21 from 16 balls, but it was Livingstone who took centre stage in reaching his second straight half century, hitting three fours and six towering sixes in his knock.
Perth made an almost certainty of the bash boost point in reaching 103 from the first ten overs, but Livingstone fell from the first ball of the eleventh over having made 67 from just 38 balls.
Colin Munro was finding the boundary on his return to the side but the Scorchers middle order offered little to the cause, Ashton Turner (1), Josh Inglis (2) and Cameron Bancroft (1) all falling cheaply.
The Sixers struck back in the final ten overs, only allowing the Scorchers to score 60 runs as they were restricted to 7-163, imports Jake Ball and Carlos Brathwaite taking two scalps apiece along with Christian.
Philippe emulated Livingstone's knock for his side as he took on Jhye Richardson with the new ball, taking 11 runs from the first over to set the tone for the chase.
Jason Behrendorff broke through when he removed Justin Avendano for 8, but Philippe and Vince took the game away from the Scorchers, adding 106 for the second wicket as Ashton Turner's men couldnt find a breakthrough.
West Australian born Philippe was the match winner for Sydney, hitting 85 from just 52 balls with ten fours and one six, Vince playing his part with 52 from 35 balls, both dismissed with victory within sight.
Captain Daniel Hughes hit the winning runs to deliver a win for his side, the Sixers top of the table and looking well placed to defend their title from BBL09.
IMAGE: The Daily Telegraph.