Thunder claim inaugural WBBL title in tense finish

Sydney Thunder beat their crosstown rivals Sydney Sixers by three wickets to win the inaugural WBBL title, in a tense and scrappy game which came down to the last over.

Sixers' innings was messy. Thunder fielded poorly, missing a plethora of run outs and catches, with each of the top four let off. The bowlers continued to create chances, and no mistake was horribly costly, but while seven wickets were taken and the total was underpar, Thunder could have been more clinical.

Sydney Thunder maiden title of BBL 2015-16

Fifth BBL final was a tale of two innings, and two collapses. Kevin Pietersen, who is in marvellous form, scored 74, before Usman Khawaja, who is in simply superhuman touch, made 70 which, as wickets tumbled, proved enough to hand Sydney Thunder their first title.

Thunder had never finished outside the bottom two for the first four seasons and 2015-16 has been a topsy-turvy one too. They lost four consecutive games after winning their first three and only crept into the finals when their fate was beyond their control. Since then, however, Thunder have been clinical.

Khawaja had considered quitting the western Sydney (the area he grew up in) franchise, but opted to stay after a chat two years ago with Michael Hussey, whom the club pursued desperately to mastermind a rebuild. Thunder have won only 11 out of 41 matches since the Big Bash's inception and Hussey has been at the helm of nine of them, including a final on the same day Thunder won the inaugural Women's BBL too.

Gayle takes aim at critics as he leaves BBL

Chris Gayle has farewelled the Big Bash League for this summer - and possibly forever - with a social media outburst in which he hit back at former cricketers who criticised his behaviour during an interview with journalist Mel McLaughlin. Gayle also declared himself a league-builder in the Twenty20 format and said that if he had played his last BBL innings his "memory with the fans will live on forever".

His final innings certainly was memorable: a 12-ball half-century that equalled the all-time fastest T20 fifty set by Yuvraj Singh in 2007. But Gayle will be remembered more for the interview in Hobart in which he asked McLaughlin for a drink and told her: "don't blush, baby".

Chris Gayle hits 12-ball Big Bash League fifty

Melbourne Renegades needed to chase down Adelaide Strikers' 170 in 16 overs to set up a rematch in a Big Bash League semi-final at Adelaide Oval on Thursday. An outrageous 12-ball 50 from Chris Gayle, equalling Yuvraj Singh's fastest-ever T20 half-century, looked to be carrying them to an unlikely victory, before the Strikers' spinners fought back to strangle the Renegades, who at one stage lost seven for 37, and win the game. As a result, Sydney Thunder qualified for their first semi-final in BBL history.

Gayle had 51 of his team's first 60 runs, including seven sixes. But by then, Renegades had already lost three wickets. Tom Cooper - who had watched Gayle pummel four consecutive Greg West deliveries for four sixes in the innings' first over - was the first to go when he nicked the first ball off Michael Neser to the wicketkeeper. Travis Head then dismissed Cameron White and Dwayne Bravo off consecutive deliveries to derail the chase.

WBBL finals race to go down to the wire

With just four matches remaining in the Rebel Women's Big Bash League regular season the race for the finals remains wide open.

Only Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes have cemented their places in the semi-finals, while another five teams are in the running for the last two berths. Only the Melbourne Renegades cannot make it.

Thunder blast season-high 5-202

 

A sparkling 66 from Shane Watson and a spectacular cameo from Andre Russell helped the Sydney Thunder to 5-202 in their all-important clash with Sydney Sixers in front of a NSW domestic record crowd at the SCG.

Watson was promoted up the order in the absence of star pair Usman Khawaja and Jacques Kallis, and responded beautifully, blazing three sixes and requiring just 41 balls to build the Thunder towards the highest total of BBL|05 in what is just about a must-win clash for the men in green.