On January 24, 2016, Sydney Thunder defeated Melbourne Stars by three wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), to lift their maiden Big Bash League title in its fifth edition. In Michael Hussey’s captaincy, Thunder emerged as champions of BBL 2015-16 edition. Sydney Thunder had a dramatic season that year as they finished in the fourth position at the points table with four wins and as many losses.
After winning their first three matches of BBL 2015-16 respectively, Sydney Thunder lost their momentum and ended up losing the next four games straight. However, they were able to win their last league game against Sydney Sixers, and made it into the top four of BBL 2015-16. Following that, Thunder went to defeat Adelaide Strikers by eight wickets in the knockout, to qualify for the final for the first time. In the final, Sydney Thunder were scheduled to face Melbourne Stars at the MCG on January 24.
Sydney Thunder defeated Melbourne Stars to win BBL 2015-16 title
Talking about the match, batting first, Melbourne Stars posted 176/9 in their 20 overs as Kevin Pietersen top scored with 74(39), hitting four fours and five sixes. Apart from that, Luke Wright and skipper David Hussey contributed with 23 and 21 runs respectively. For Sydney Thunder, Shane Watson and Chris Green took two wickets each, while Andre Russell, Clint McKay, and Jacques Kallis scalped a wicket each.
Chasing the winning target, Usman Khawaja and Jacques Kallis put up an opening partnership of 86 runs in 9.1 overs. Kallis got out after scoring 28(27) runs, while Khawaja top scored with 70(48) runs, hitting five fours and three sixes. After that, Melbourne Stars started taking wickets at regular intervals as the match went down to the last few overs. With two runs needed from the last four balls, Ben Rohrer smashed six against Daniel Worrall as Sydney Thunder were finally the champions in the BBL 2015-16.
