BBL 2020-21: Which is the most successful team in Big Bash League history?
The 2020-21 edition of the Big Bash League will get underway on December 10th. The first match of the BBL 2020-21 season will take place between defending champions Sydney Sixers and the Hobart Hurricanes at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
The BBL is a professional franchise Twenty20 cricket league organised by Cricket Australia. The tournament has been in existence since 2011. The same eight franchises have featured in all the editions of the BBL since its inception. The teams are Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder.
Perth Scorchers - The most successful BBL franchise
Of the eight sides, the Perth Scorchers are the most successful team in the history of BBL. They have won the championship three times, two of them in consecutive years. Scorchers’ BBL wins have come in the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2016–17 seasons.
Scorchers’ inaugural victory in BBL came in the 2013-14 season when they defeated the Hobart Hurricanes in the final. The Scorchers finished third in the league table with five wins and three losses from eight games.
In the semi-final, they defeated the Sydney Sixers by five runs (D/L) method in a rain-curtailed game. Opener Craig Simmons stared for the Scorchers with a terrific 112 from 58 balls.
In the final against the Hurricanes at Perth, Shaun Marsh’s unbeaten 63 from 43 saw them post 191 runs for 4 wickets. Left-arm spinner Brad Hogg’s excellent figures of 2 for 17 saw the team lift their maiden BBL title.
Simon Katich was the Scorchers’ highest run-getter in the BBL 2013-14 with 314 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 130.83. Pacer Yasir Arafat was the franchise’s leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps in six games at a strike rate of 12.
The Scorchers’ successfully defended their BBL trophy in the 2014-15 season. This time, they finished second in the points table with five wins and three losses from eight games.
In the semi-final, the Scorchers came up against the Melbourne Stars and defeated them by 18 runs, defending a target of 145 runs. Andrew Tye was the star of the show with a scalp of 4 for 18.
In a gripping final, the Scorchers won off the last ball despite Brett Lee’s two wickets in the last over in his last BBL game. Marsh was the hero again with 73 runs from 59 balls in the chase.
Micheal Klinger topped the BBL batting charts in the 2014-15 season with 326 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 129.36. Pacer Behrendorff and Arafat were Scorchers’ most successful bowlers again with 15 wickets in 10 games at strike rates of 16 and 15 respectively.
The Scorchers’ third BBL triumph came in the 2016-17 season. This time, they topped the points table with five wins and three losses from eight matches. The two-time winners then thumped the Melbourne Stars by seven wickets in the first semi-final thanks to Mitchell Johnson’s incredible figures of 3 for 3, which included the massive wicket of Kevin Pietersen.
In the final at Perth, the Scorchers trampled the Sydney Sixers by nine wickets. Jhye Richardson’s amazing spell restricted the Sixers to 141 runs while batting first. Klinger then ensured the Scorchers were untroubled in the chase with a magnificent 71 runs from 49 balls.
Klinger was again the Scorchers’ leading run-scorer in the 2016-17 BBL season with 334 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 126.99. Johnson was the leading wicket-taker for the franchise with 13 wickets in 9 games at a strike rate of 15.6 and an economy rate of 5.91.
How have the other franchises fared in the BBL?
While the Scorchers also hold the record for having made the most final appearances (5), five other franchises have won the BBL at least once. The Sydney Sixers won the inaugural season (2011–12) and well as the most recent edition of the tournament(2019–20).
The Brisbane Heat registered their only BBL win till date in the 2012-13 season. The Sydney Thunder, the Adelaide Strikers, and the Melbourne Renegades won the tournament in the 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19 seasons respectively.