Following non-stop cricket actions over the last few days without fail, the Big Bash League 2016 has now reached its culmination point when either Sydney or Melbourne will lift the trophy at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This is the fifth edition of the trophy and no doubt, this premiere T20 contest has garnered a lot of support and love from cricket enthusiasts worldwide.
Big Bash League (BBL) final – Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder
Interestingly, the battle will be fought by two brothers this time on the cricket field with each of them representing their own side. Yes, the veteran batsman and ace cricketer Mike Hussey will be leading his side, Sydney Thunder while his younger brother David Hussey will be captaining Melbourne Stars. Whoever wins this grand finale, it’s certainly the first time for either of them.
Previous years have been disastrous for both Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder. Latter has even failed to qualify for the knock-out stage of the BBL since inception of this championship. Similarly, Melbourne Stars faced severe disappointment on losing out at their 4 previous semi-final clashes.
Mike Hussey’s vast amount of experience is expected to help him out at Sunday’s big clash while Dave Hussey’s aggressive style of leadership may also prove as an asset for his side. This year, both teams have really played some excellent cricket on their en-route to this grand finale.
Last time, Melbourne and Sydney clashed against each other at this year’s BBL league match that saw Usman Khawaja hitting a brilliant 109 off 70 balls helping Thunders win the match by 1-run. Overall statistics reveals that head to head both Thunders and Stars faced against each other 5 times with stars leading the chart 3-2.
There will be immense pressure on the openers Khwaja and Luke Wright to give a fiery start to their teams; Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder respectively. For Melbourne Stars, Kevin Pietersen will be more than an asset especially after his brilliant knock at the semi-final played a few days back. He is an experienced hard-hitting batsman having a wide variety of shots in his armoury.
It is expected that more than 75,000 spectators are set to witness the BBL 2016 live in front of their eyes at the jam-packed Melbourne stadium. Statistically speaking, 8 times a team batting second have won out of the last 13 outings played at Melbourne. However, at the end of the day, only the team playing better on Sunday will win the championship for sure.
Teams News
Melbourne Stars: Luke Wright, Marcus Stoinis, Kevin Pietersen, , David Hussey (Captain), Rob Quiney, Evan Gulbis, Peter Handscomb (W&K), Adam Zampa, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Beer and Daniel Worrall.
Sydney Thunder: Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Mike Hussey (Captain), Ben Rohrer, Henry Nicholas, Andre Russell, Chris Green, Fawad Ahmed, Chris Hartley (Wicket Keeper), Clint McKay, and Nathan McAndrew.
Where To Watch LIVE
Match starts at 8:20am GMT. Live TV coverage is available on Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports 3 HD. Click here for the live streaming link.
Tags: BBL, Big Bash League, David Hussey, Final, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Stars, Mike Hussey, MSG, Sydney Thunder
