Rain provided more resistance than Sydney Sixers' top order at Olympic Park on Saturday night, when Sydney Thunder skittled their cross-town rivals for 76 then won an abridged BBL derby by four runs.
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Thunder slipped to 2-28 from 5.3 overs when showers returned to Sydney Showground Stadium, interrupting play for a third time in a contest that had already been reduced to 16 overs per side.
The hosts were declared victors via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method but the points would have been split if the chase was halted four balls earlier.
Sixers skipper Moises Henriques questioned whether the wet wicket was ready at the start of play.
But Henriques was more concerned his second-placed side had crashed to 6-26 after a chaotic collapse that was bookended by run-outs.
"It's a result that doesn't sit that well with me," he said.
"It's pretty clear in terms of conditions, we were on the wrong side of it.
"But had we played and dealt with those conditions a bit better I still think we could have had a different outcome."
The Sixers lurched from calamity to catastrophe before Justin Avendano (28) and Ben Dwarshuis (19) shared a 45-run stand, ensuring they went past the all-time lowest BBL total of 57.
Avendano and Dwarshuis were the only two batsmen to reach double figures in an innings that spanned 15.5 overs.
The men in magenta managed to better their 74 from last year's clash with Melbourne Stars, with recalled Test tweaker Nathan Lyon's unbeaten four ensuring it wasn't their lowest completed total in club history.
"I thought our guys handled the night really well and the umpires did what they could," Thunder skipper Callum Ferguson said.
The Sixers' slump started when South African Chris Morris sprinted down the pitch after his follow-through, kicking the ball onto the stumps to run Dan Hughes out for a duck in the opening over.
Gurinder Sandhu trapped Josh Philippe plumb lbw with his first ball of the BBL season, meaning Sixers shuffled off at 2-4 from 1.4 overs when rain first started to fall.
The covers were back on just seven balls after the restart; long enough for Henriques to rage after a delivery from Morris rocketed off the deck, took the edge and sailed to keeper Jay Lenton.
The low point came when Tom Curran and Avendano met at the non-striker's end after a mix-up between the wickets.
SIXERS AT SIXES AND SEVENS
*Sixers' lowest completed total in BBL history is 74. If Daniel Sams held a scrambling catch in the deep, their total on Saturday night would have been one run lower.
*Sixers crashed to 4-9, 5-15 & 6-26. No side in BBL history has been four, five and six wickets down for such respective low scores.
Australian Associated Press
