Burns leads the way as Sixers secure first Spring Challenge title

Erin Burns has starred with bat and ball to secure the Sydney Sixers' first T20 Spring Challenge title, seeing off the Perth Scorchers by 15 runs in Sydney.

Burns (41 off 36 balls), Lauren Kua and Caoimhe Bray (both 24 off 20) led the way for the Sixers as they posted 8-149 at Cricket Central, with spinner Lilly Mills' 3-19 crucial in restricting the Sixers' deep batting line-up.

T20 Spring Challenge 2026

Winners: Sydney Sixers

 

Most runs: Maddie Penna (Strikers), 222 runs at 55.5, SR 141

 

Most wickets: Jemma Barsby (Thunder), 11 wickets at 8.18, econ 6.42

 

Player of the tournament: Maddie Penna (Strikers), 222 runs and seven wickets

Katie Mack (23 from 16) and Mikayla Friday (31 from 27) spearheaded Perth's reply, but the Sixers spinners, Burns (1-21) and Juliette Morton (2-21), were instrumental in swinging the momentum back in the home side's favour as they restricted the Scorchers to 7-134.

The win will be a confidence booster for the Sixers ahead of their WBBL|12 opening game against Brisbane Heat at Allan Border Field on October 30, with the Sydney club the first team other than the Hurricanes to lift the trophy.

"It's amazing to be able to get out there and get some wins under our belt particularly leading into the Big Bash," Burns said.

"I think it's been awesome to see the depth of our domestic players having to stand up all throughout the competition and to finish off with the win and the title is awesome.

"In this kind of game and format, you know that you're only ever a couple of wickets away from turning the tide, and I think we've weathered those storms a little bit throughout the competition.

"We always know that we can claw our way back and get back in it."

This was the third edition of the domestic 20-over competition, which features the eight Big Bash clubs alongside the ACT Meteors, and acts as a warm-up for the WBBL while offering players a chance to secure their place on a Big Bash list.

"I hope that a lot of people look our way for some of those uncontracted girls because I think up top, Elsa Hunter did really well with the bat, as did Lauren Kua, they showed some really good intent, particularly early on and Juliette Morton did some really cool stuff with her leggies," Burns said.

The in-form Scorchers top-order made a solid start in response, with Mack and Ines McKeon putting on 36 in 3.2 overs before the latter was caught off the spin of Frankie Nicklin.

Mack looked ominous, hitting four early boundaries, and it took finals specialist Sarah Coyte, who has a habit of rising to the occasion in the biggest games, to secure her wicket, as she was caught for a 16-ball 23 in the seventh over, while Burns picked up the key wicket of accumulator Chloe Piparo for 17.

Mikayla Friday (nee Hinkley) had led the Scorchers' charge to the final, striking at 141 for the tournament, but made a circumspect start with only six runs coming off the first 13 deliveries she faced. That changed in the eighth over when she launched Morton into the shrubbery beyond the Cricket Central fence, prompting a Sixers search party.

But Morton, a 19-year-old leg-spinner who represented Australia at the 2025 U19 World Cup, got her own back when she bowled Friday for 31 at the end of the 12th over.

That left the Scorchers needing 58 off 48, and Morton struck another blow in her next over, removing Perth 'keeper-batter Alyssa Dermody (6 off 12).

At 5-96 the Scorchers had work to do, and as Morton and off-spinner Burns turned the screws the pressure mounted, with the equation blowing out to 41 off 18.

Lower-order batters Taneale Peschel and Ruby Strange tried to break the shackles, taking 15 off Nicklin in the 18th, but Sarah Coyte's experience at the death shone through, restricting the Scorchers pair to just six runs off the 19th, and Nicklin likewise bounced back in the last to ice victory.

Earlier, Sixers openers Lauren Kua and Elsa Hunter picked up where they left off inf the semi-final, handing their team a strong start after skipper Burns elected to set the Scorchers a target.

With key Powerplay quick Chloe Ainsworth being managed, the Scorchers instead turned to Ebony Hoskin for the breakthrough and she delivered, bowling Hunter for 13 off six balls.

Kua led the charge as the Sixers raced to 1-55 at the end of the Powerplay, but once the field spread the runs dried up, and the mounting pressure saw Claire Moore (23 off 20) caught behind off the bowling of Mills before Kua was run out three balls later courtesy of Piparo's direct hit.

Just 11 runs came off overs 8-10, as the Sixers reached 3-73 at drinks.

Cheatle had been the hero of their successful chase in Tuesday's semi-final, scoring an unbeaten 46, but a disastrous mix-up saw her run out for three first ball after the break.

Burns and Bray set about the rebuild, putting on 53 for the fifth wicket before the latter fell to the spin of Amy Edgar, and Mills removed Burns and Courtney Sippel in the same over to take the wind out of the tail-end of the Sixers' innings.