Babar Azam’s Brilliant Half-Century Powers Sydney Sixers to Victory Over Melbourne Renegades
Melbourne: Star Pakistani batter Babar Azam played a classy and composed unbeaten half-century to guide Sydney Sixers to a six-wicket victory over Melbourne Renegades in an exciting match of Big Bash League Season 15 at Docklands Stadium.
In the much-anticipated contest between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Sydney Sixers won the toss and opted to field first.
Melbourne Renegades had a shaky start as Jack Edwards dismissed Tim Seifert for eight runs in the early overs, leaving the hosts at 10 for 1 within two overs. Mohammad Rizwan then stitched a brief partnership with Josh Brown, although the aggressive stroke play mainly came from Brown’s end.
Josh Brown smashed 43 runs off just 19 balls, including three fours and four sixes, before Hayden Kerr broke the 44-run stand. Rizwan struggled to find rhythm and was dismissed for six runs off 10 balls.
Jake Fraser-McGurk steadied the innings with 38 runs off 29 deliveries, hitting four boundaries, but fell to Sean Abbott after the Renegades crossed the 100-run mark. In the death overs, Hasan Khan provided late momentum with a quickfire 39 runs, but his dismissal in the final over slowed the scoring.
Highlights Of Today Babar Azam Inning. #BabarAzam𓃵 #BBL#sydneysixers #Cricket pic.twitter.com/qBgIktWSCu
— Jinnah Law Association (@JLAOffice) January 1, 2026
Melbourne Renegades eventually posted 164 runs for the loss of nine wickets. For Sydney Sixers, Sean Abbott picked up three wickets, while Jack Edwards, Ben Dwarshuis and Hayden Kerr claimed two wickets each.
Chasing the target, Sydney Sixers got off to a solid start through Daniel Hughes and Babar Azam, who added 46 runs for the opening stand. Hughes scored 30 off 23 balls before being dismissed by Gurinder Sandhu.
Babar Azam kicked off 2026 with a match-winning knock in BBL 15 for the Sydney Sixers.
📸: Jio Hotstar pic.twitter.com/LdJFJnezZp
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) January 1, 2026
Babar Azam anchored the innings as Josh Philippe contributed 16 runs and captain Moises Henriques added a brisk 23 to keep the chase on track. After the fall of the fourth wicket, Babar found strong support from Joel Davies, and the pair put together an unbeaten 51-run partnership to take the Sixers home in 19.1 overs.
Babar Azam finished with an unbeaten 58 off 46 balls, including four fours and a six, while Joel Davies scored an unbeaten 34 off 15 balls, featuring three boundaries and two sixes.
For the Renegades, Gurinder Sandhu took two wickets, while Will Sutherland and Matthew Spoors claimed one each.
With this win, Sydney Sixers registered their second victory of the season and moved up to fifth place on the points table. Melbourne Renegades, with just one win, remain seventh, ahead only of Sydney Thunder.
