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The Sydney Thunder have claimed their first ever Big Bash League title on Sunday night recording a three-wicket win over the Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
REPORT: THUNDER CLAIM MAIDEN BBL TITLE
It’s a massive turn around for the Thunder who previously had achieved nothing better than a seventh-placed finish in the short history of the BBL.
The Stars batted first and set them a significant total of 176 to chase but an excellent opening knock from man of the match Usman Khawaja set the Thunder up for a win.
Ben Rohrer hit a six off the third ball of the last over to confirm the victory, making the Thunder BBL champions with three balls remaining.
Final score
Melbourne Stars 9/176
Sydney Thunder 7/181
The fifth edition of the Big Bash League has officially reached its last stage, as the Sydney Thunder prepare to take on the Melbourne Stars in the final tonight at the MCG. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:10pm (AEDT).
These teams will be playing off in the first Big Bash Final appearance for both sides after the Stars finally overcame their semi-final hoodoo against the Perth Scorchers, while the Thunder conquered the Adelaide Strikers in their first ever finals appearance.
Usman Khawaja is once again the barometer for the Thunder in this contest and the Stars will be praying they can claim his wicket fairly early. The left-hander has enjoyed a near perfect summer in both the longest and shortest format of the game, scoring a total of seven centuries since November.
Despite playing just three matches in BBL05, Khawaja sits in fourth position on the run-scoring list due to his three massive scores of 109*, 62 and 104* at a strike rate of 160.81. The Strikers simply had no answers for the Aussie star, who went on the attack from ball one on Thursday, bringing up his century off 59 balls.
Khawaja has a licence to attack the bowlers in the powerplay due to the Thunder’s batting depth consisting of the likes of Shane Watson, Jacques Kallis, Andre Russell, Ben Rohrer and of course ‘Mr Cricket’ Mike Hussey.
The Stars’ barometer has to be Englishmen Kevin Pietersen who stole the show on Friday Night with his breathtaking 62 runs off just 36 deliveries to help his side cruise to victory at the MCG.
After two lean matches, the marquee international signing looked as comfortable as ever on the MCG, blasting seven boundaries against a fairly strong Scorcher’s attack.
There is no doubting that Pietersen will need some support tonight and teammates such as Luke Wright, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis and David Hussey will need to build on their inconsistent seasons in their last innings.
Both these sides managed to win batting second in their semi-finals, with strong bowling attacks keeping their oppositions to a fairly minimal total on both occasions.
The Thunder posses the likes of Andre Russell, Clint McKay and Shane Watson, who have all performed on a consistent basis throughout the season.
After a couple of seasons in the wilderness, 32-year-old McKay has enjoyed a major resurgence, sitting on top of the wicket-takers tally in BBL05 with 17.
His old teammates at the Stars may be fairly good at picking his slower ball out of the hand, yet his stock fast delivery has been fairly neat this summer.
On paper, the Stars bowling line-up doesn’t posses many household names, yet they have hit their straps in recent matches and have gelled quite nicely.
The combination of spinners Michael Beer and Adam Zampa has worked a treat, with Beer often keeping things tight (6.17 economy) prior to Zampa pouncing on the frustrated batsmen by offering a fair bit of flight.
Young gun swing bowler Daniel Worrall has looked right at home in the BBL this year after coming in for John Hastings who was called up to the Australian ODI squad. He’s managed to swing the new ball a mile in his last two outings, taking six wickets in two matches against the Scorchers. The man they call ‘Frankie’ may cause Shane Watson all sorts of trouble early.
These two sides have met one another on five occasions and the Stars currently have the upper hand with four victories to the Thunder’s one.
Their last outing came in Round 2 in arguably the best game of the season. After losing the toss, the Thunder were sent into bat on a dewy pitch with a slow outfield due to showers throughout the day.
Khawaja put on an absolute master class, batting through the entire innings to end up on an unbeaten 109 and get his side to an over-par 178. Glenn Maxwell was the best Stars bowler with figures of 2/28 coming off his allotted four overs.
In reply the Stars got off to a good start with openers Marcus Stoinis and Luke Wright putting on a 48-run opening stand, yet Andre Russell put the pressure with successive wickets in the sixth over.
Kevin Pietersen (76) and James Faulkner (45*) consolidated throughout the middle of the innings, with the Stars requiring just 15 off the last nine deliveries. Faulkner couldn’t get the job done for the Stars late, with some poor shot-selections resulting in the Thunder winning by a single run.
The season all comes down to tonight’s final. Which of these two sides will lift the trophy aloft for the first time? Will the Stars finally taste success after four seasons of semi-finals chokes, or will the Thunder grant skipper Mike Hussey the farewell he deserves?
Prediction
This should be a ripping contest with the two strongest sides in the competition facing off. There is no doubting that the Thunder have the stronger side on paper, yet the home ground advantage could prove to be pivotal for the Stars. The Thunder have travelled to the MCG once this season and conquered it in a nail biter and they will do it a second time to give Mr Cricket the ultimate farewell.
Sydney Thunder to win.
Join The Roar for live scores and updates on the BBL05 final from 7pm (AEDT). If you are following the action live, be sure to share your thoughts on the match in the comments below.
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