Abbott, playing his first match at any level since last week's birth of baby Ella, snared three wickets to boost his BBL career tally to 112 scalps.
Abbott is now the BBL's all-time leading wicket-taker, having overtaken Ben Laughlin on that list when he removed Adelaide's top-scorer Thomas Kelly (41) with the final delivery of the innings.
The paceman was on a hat-trick after removing openers Matthew Short and Jake Weatherald, who helped the Strikers get off to a flyer by taking 18 runs off the first over.
Dan Christian, who welcomed the arrival of baby Harper a fortnight ago, also celebrated fatherhood with a bag of wickets after Strikers stand-in skipper Peter Siddle opted to bat first.
Christian snared astonishing figures of 3-8 from three overs, halting the visitors' momentum after Jon Wells and Matt Renshaw marched their side to 2-84.
The table-topping Sixers were forced to omit Steve O'Keefe (calf) and Tom Curran (back) from the XI that defeated Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
Curran will miss the rest of the season while this will be fellow English paceman Chris Jordan's final BBL match of the summer.
Top BBL Wicket-takers:
* 112 - Sean Abbott (83 games)
* 111 - Ben Laughlin (96 games)
* 104 - Kane Richardson (82 games)
* 103 - AJ Tye (73 games)
* 90 - Adam Zampa (79 games).
16°C