The English opener is the most advanced bat in the 2020/21 Big Bash League so far with a total of 462 runs after a hundred-year crush against the Sydney Sixers; Sam Billings measured by 33, and James Vince hit 38 in a fruitless chase
Last updated: 22/01/21 12:12 p.m.
Alex Hales celebrates bringing up his era at the Adelaide Oval
Alex Hales got a taste of 110 on 56 members when the Sydney Thunder defeated the Sydney Sixers with 46 runs after posting a Big Bash League score of 232-5, in Adelaide.
SCORECARD
Hales hit eight six and nine four-foot in a hotel with a strike rate of 196.43 when Thunder put the previous highest score in the tournament off 223-8, made by Hobart Hurricanes in 2017.
The 32-year-old is now the top running winner in the tournament, with a total of 462 runs from his 12 innings to date at an average of 38.50.
The other Englishman Sam Billings weighed in from 33 off 21 balls, as did captain Callum Ferguson (42 off 23) and Ben Cutting (33 off 14).
Amid the attack, Ben Dwarshuis returned a 3-38 figure off his four-pointers, while Carlos Brathwaite (1-40) lifted the Hales wicket with the last member of the 19th over.
Sixers fell very short of their elegant target, reaching 186-5 in response half a century from Moises Henriques (56 out of 35) and 42 from Jordan Silk.
Opener James Vince could not match his teammate Hales’ fireworks but added 38 off 23 balls.
Hales last played for England in March 2019 but has been in the wilderness since being removed from the ECB from Eoin Morgan’s World Cup squad after failing a drug test.
In May last year the right-wing fan said he was “mature” as a player and as a man and hoped to regain hope in England’s international plans.