James Vince was fuming when he was cruelly denied a Sydney Sixers ton by Aussie Andrew Tye deliberately bowling a wide last weekend… so can the England batsman take revenge in Saturday’s Big Bash final?
- Vince was left stranded on 98 not out when Tye denied him his first Big Bash ton
- Aussie bowler apologised for the errant delivery but Vince was clearly annoyed
- Pair will go head-to-head when the Sixers take on the Scorchers in Big Bash final
James Vince is a pretty laid back cricketer. Some might say too laid back and that perception might have cost him at England level. But there was no hiding the anger in his eyes last Saturday.
The Hampshire captain and Sydney Sixers star was left stranded on 98 not out when Aussie bowler Andrew Tye denied him his first Big Bash ton by deliberately bowling a big leg-side wide that finished the game. The Sixers needed one run from 18 balls and Tye’s extra sealed Sydney’s victory over the Perth Scorchers for a place in tomorrow’s final. Tye apologised but Vince was clearly annoyed.
‘It was a great atmosphere,’ Vince told Sportsmail from Down Under. ‘Particularly towards the end — that’s probably what made me more angry about not getting the hundred.’
Tye (right) apologised but Vince was clearly annoyed after missing out on a century
During the previous over, Vince had urged his batting partner to get the team over the line but Daniel Hughes was having none of it. ‘It had got quite loud when they were cheering Hughey for blocking dots,’ said Vince, 29. ‘At the start of the over I had said, “just get the job done, I’m not too worried”. Then he blocked a couple and the crowd got going.
‘I walked down the wicket and actually said ‘Let’s not run’. We all know what happened next.’
Tye is an experienced bowler with 28 T20 international caps, so it is hard to believe his errant delivery was an accident. But Vince said: ‘I chatted to some of their guys after the game who said it wasn’t intentional. The feedback I’ve had is that he didn’t do it on purpose.
‘At the end of the day he’s the only one who knows. It was that moment at the end when the crowd got going that made it more disappointing.’
James Vince was left stranded on 98 not out when Andrew Tye denied him his first Big Bash ton
Vince will have the chance to take revenge tomorrow, with Perth and Tye waiting in the final. Tye could be in for a cold reception at the SCG as he is public enemy No 1 among Sydney’s cricket-lovers, whereas Englishman Vince is a hero. He is the fourth highest run-scorer in this season’s competition and has the Sixers gunning for their second successive Big Bash triumph.
All in front of an expected crowd of 36,000 who have been denied seeing the Sixers in Sydney, with Covid forcing them to play their entire season away from home.
If Vince can repeat his knock from last Saturday, the SCG will have plenty to cheer. ‘It was a night where everything seemed to find the gaps and hit the middle,’ said Vince. ‘It has been a very different campaign. With Covid and not having a home ground, we’ve been hopping around a fair bit. That has made it tougher, but the cricket has been really good.
‘They’ve upped the capacity from 50 to 75 per cent for the final and the tickets sold out straight away. It will be great to play in front of an SCG crowd.’
Then he will finally head back to England, after a marathon stint in Australia that included a two-week quarantine spell.
Vince said Tye’s team-mates claimed the Aussie bowler didn’t bowl the wide on purpose
‘I’ve been here for two and a half months. I left on November 22. But now we’re in the final, the flights home have been booked.
‘The family side of things is always tough. I’ve been away for Christmas, my daughter’s fourth birthday and the little fella (his son) will be five months when I get back. He was only two and a half months old when I left.
‘He won’t know who I am when I walk through the door but my daughter’s old enough to tell me she’s looking forward to seeing me. She’s too young to sit down and watch a T20 but she stands up and shouts at the TV.
‘I don’t think she gets when the cricket is live, though. There have been times when highlights have been on when I’ve been at home and she can’t work out how I can be in two places at once.’
After his performances with the bat, the Sixers must wish they could clone him, too.