After more than a month of gruelling T20 action, the 2016-17 Big Bash League is down to its final two teams as the Perth Scorchers will face off against the Sydney Sixers in the final of the 6th season of the Big Bash League at the WACA in Perth.
The Perth Scorchers will be looking for their third Big Bash League title this season and by far are the most successful team in the BBL, having finished as runner-up in the first two editions of the tournament, then as winners in the next two and then as semifinalists in the 2015-16 season.
The Scorchers finished on top of the table and had a comfortable win in the semifinals against the Melbourne stars. The Stars set up a relatively low score of just 136 as Mitchell Johnson once again put in a top performance with the ball picking up three important wickets of Rob Quiney, Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen.
With the bat, Sam Whiteman got the Scorchers off to a fine start scoring 31 runs and Shaun Marsh continued his fine form with the bat in the BBL as he scored 56 from 44 balls to get the win for the Scorchers. The Scorchers will be looking to them again as they look to clinch their third BBL title in four years.
Michael Klinger is another batsman the Scorchers will turn to for runs in the final. The Australian batsman is the highest run scorer in the Big Bash League history and despite having a rather quite season this year, the final is the perfect stage for him to showcase his excellent batting skills.
Good news for the Perth Scorches heading into this match is that Left-arm quick bowler Jason Behrendorff is in line to make a shock return after he fractured his left fibula and his return will only mean more danger for the Sydney Sixers top batting order.
The Sydney Sixers meanwhile have enjoyed an extraordinary rise to the top after they finished at the bottom of the points table last season. The Sixers did enjoy some early success in the BBL; they won the first edition of the tournament, got knocked out in the semifinals in 2013-14 and finished as runner-up in 2014-15.
After facing a really tough time during the course of the current tournament which saw them just make it into the top four on net run rate, the Sixers will be determined to make this chance count and will be eager to win their second title.
The Sixers had a tough time in their semifinal encounter against the Brisbane Heat and just managed to tie the score in the last ball of the match and required super over to book a place in the final. Their captain Moises Henriques stole the show as he scored 64 from 34 balls and also took charge of their batting in the super over and set a target of 23 which proved to be too much for Brisbane Heat.
Daniel Hughes will be a crucial batsman for the Sixers as they will be relying on him for a good start. The 27-year-old has been in fine form in recent matches and the Sydney Sixers will be looking to him to put in one more excellent show in the final.
Sean Abbott will once again be pressured with picking up wickets and having picked up four wickets in the semifinal taking his tally to 20, which is also the highest wickets taken in the BBL this season, they will be looking to him once again to put a fine show with the ball.
Nathan Lyon is another bowler that the Sixers can turn to in the final and after he too picked up 4 wickets in the semifinal, he too will be tasked with picking up wickets. Bad news for the Sixers prior to this match is that New Zealand batsman Colin Munro will miss the match after he was called up to the New Zealand national team for next week's one-day series with Australia.
Both teams possess top quality batsman and bowlers who can change the course of the match at any given time and given the quality of players on display, no T20 fan will want to miss this mouth watering encounter between the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers.
Big Bash Leageu 2016-17 final schedule
Final: Perth Scorchers vs Sydney Sixers
Date: Saturday, 28th January
Time: 16:15 local (08:15 GMT | 13:45 IST)
Venue: The WACA in Perth
TV listings: India: Star Sports2/HD2, Australia: Network Ten, UK: Sky Sports 2/HD2, South Africa: Supersport, US and Canada: Willow TV
