Jordan Silk showed plenty of steel and power to ensure Sydney Sixers teammate Brett Lee enjoyed an triumphant SCG farewell in an extraordinary Big Bash League derby.
Set 155 to win, the finals-bound Sixers seemed to have little chance when they slumped to 6-75 in the 14th over on Thursday night.
They still needed 23 off the last over from paceman Josh Lalor (4-29), who had 4-6 from his first three overs,
Silk scored a personal BBL-best 69 rubs off 43 balls with five sixes and a four and his last 43 came off just 13 deliveries.
Some late hitting from Silk and Sean Abbott in a brisk, 54-run partnership got the Sixers closer than seemed likely and Stephen O'Keefe hit the four needed off the final ball.
An innings of 56 off 43 balls from Jacques Kallis and an unbeaten 51 off 36 from Aiden Blizzard,provided the platform to give the Thunder hope of beating the Sixers for the first time in seven Sydney Smashes.
The win confirmed the Sixers in fourth spot and sent them into an away semi-final against the table-topping Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Second-placed defending champions Perth Scorchers will have the chance to avenge Wednesday's dramatic away loss to Melbourne Stars by hosting them in Sunday's semi-final.
The crowd of 36,487 at the SCG was the largest for a domestic fixture in NSW, eclipsing the record of 32,823 set at the last Sydney Smash at ANZ Stadium on December 27.
It also comfortably surpassed the biggest SCG crowd of the season of 30,161 for the opening day of the fourth Test against India earlier this month.
The imminently retiring Lee finished with 0-38 from his four overs as Thunder made 4-154.
"It's been the most amazing feeling... it's been an awesome night,' Lee told Network Ten during the Sixers' innings.
Going into the game with a stiff back, 39-year-old Kallis couldn't bowl but did plenty of damage with the bat in notching his third half-century of the tournament.
Kallis and fellow South African Cameron Delport, who scored 30 off 29, put a dampener on proceedings with an opening stand of 74 off 8.5 overs and effectively ended any mathematical chance the Sixers had of finishing higher than fourth.
Thunder captain Mike Hussey, who could be playing his final BBL game, scored nine off eight balls, after relegating himself to No.5 in the order.
Thunder's 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Jake Doran, the youngest player in BBL history, did not bat.
The Sixers' chase started badly with 27-year-old Lalor taking 3-2 in his first two overs.
The NSW Blues bowler removed openers Michael Lumb and stand-in skipper Nic Maddinson plus Ed Cowan, inside the first six overs.
He returned to bowl Ryan Carter with the first ball of his third over.
Lee said later that Thunder had probably outclassed the Sixers until the last two overs and he felt for Lalor.
He said he couldn't believe he had played his last game at the SCG and described the outcome as the "best send off."
"That's one of the most amazing chases I've ever been involved in, certainly with Twenty20," Lee said.
"It's weird when you are chasing that amount of runs in the last three or four overs, there's obviously a part of you that goes `far out we're being knocked off here.'
"But there's also that other part of you that keeps believing and I knew if we could get down to that last two overs in the mid to late 20s, it's a big ask.
"But I felt with Silk there on 50-odd, we were a chance to hopefully get over the line... and far out."
Hussey said the loss was hard to take and he would sit down and think about the possibility of going around again next season.
"That one really does hurt, but that's the way the game goes," Hussey said,
"It's a tough game and hopefully that hurts us and makes us really hungry for next time."
He defended Lalor, saying he could still be proud of his effort and had done a great job getting Thunder into a position where they should have won.
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