A scattergun-like innings from the Melbourne Renegades got them an under-par score of 164 on a typically sluggish and two-paced Marvel Stadium pitch.
40 of those runs came from the third and fifth overs of the Renegades innings when opener Josh Brown carved up some on-pace half-volleys from Ben Dwarshuis and Hayden Kerr, who learned from their mistakes to produce a greater variety of off-pace deliveries later in the innings.
Dwarshuis produced an excellent second over to disappoint the pocket of 26,865 spectators who had come to see Pakistan international Mohammad Rizwan as he mistimed a crossbat shot in the seventh over, leaving the Renegades in a tricky position at 61/3 after seven overs.
There were five consecutive overs from the sixth to the tenth without a single boundary scored as Jake Fraser-McGurk and Oliver Peake, two batters who like to throw the bat around from the outset, restrained themselves in an attempt to settle in on a pitch that was frustratingly slow.
They failed to capitalise on their lengthy partnership when the Renegades held off the Power Surge until Peake had been dismissed, going on to score only 12 runs from their Surge overs against the bowling of Sean Abbott and Jack Edwards.
Some lusty blows from Hassan Khan helped the Renegades to 41 from the final four overs, but they ultimately left about 15-20 runs behind when heading into the sheds on 164/9.
The difference in Surges was instrumental in the final result as the Sixers racked up 26 runs off theirs, many off the bat of former Pakistan T20I Babar Azam who needed 30 deliveries to get out of second gear.
The Sixers were well behind the required run rate when they opted to take theirs, needing 85 from eight overs, but Babar and Henriques both pounced on some terrible lengths from AJ Tye in the 13th over.
Sandhu made amends for going for six in the first ball of his Power Surge over by inducing a miscue from Sixers captain Moises Henriques, who was dismissed for 23.
Sixers head coach Greg Shipperd made the masterstroke of sending Joel Davies up the order to number six, following a failed experiment of promoting boundary hitter Ben Dwarshuis to number five, and the left-handed Davies played the matchups to perfection, using the angles from left-arm quick Behrendorff and spin of left-arm Renegades spinner Hassan Khan to club 27 runs off his first nine balls and bring the required run rate back down after six.
By that point, the run chase was done and dusted. What had initially appeared as a lacklustre innings from Babar Azam turned out to be an excellent anchor as, whilst his scoring rate of 7.35rpo was slower than what was needed, his explosive batting against Tye during the Surge supercharged the Sixers' victory.
Sydney Sixers next host Brisbane Heat on Monday, whilst the Renegades prepare for an away derby against high-flying Melbourne Stars on Sunday.