OTD| Sydney Thunder won their maiden Big Bash League title in 2016 by defeating Melbourne Stars in the final clash

For Sydney Thunder this day holds special significance as the franchise won their maiden Big Bash League title in 2016 by defeating Melbourne Stars in the final of the 2015-16 season. It was a highly competitive grand finale where Melbourne Stars fought till the very end but Sydney Thunder were determined to grab the title. 

An impressive first innings for the Melbourne Stars

Michael Hussey won the toss for Sydney Thunder and invited Melbourne to bat first. Sydney started the match on a positive note as they dismissed the opener Marcus Stoinis in the second over. However, Kevin Pietersen did the counterattack and wrested the momentum back in Melbourne’s favour. Sydney tried to make a comeback with two wickets in quick succession with the dismissal of Luke Wright and Peter Handscomb.

Even after these setbacks Kevin Pietersen did not stop the onslaught and took on the bowlers of Sydney Thunder. There was not much assistance from the other end but small cameos led Melbourne Stars to a formidable total. Stars put 176 runs on the board which was a challenging target for Sydney to chase down.

A thrilling run chase

The chasing side started their run chase by putting the opposition under pressure. Openers Usman Khawaja and Jacques Kallis provided Sydney with a compact and explosive start. The left-handed Usman Khawaja took the initiative and Kallis assisted him on the other end. Melbourne broke this partnership by dismissing the South African and further gave a jolt by sending Shane Watson back to the pavilion with just six runs in his account. 

Melbourne kept losing wickets at regular intervals as none of the batters could capitalize on their start. However, Khawaja led his team in the arduous run chase with a 70-run knock. After he was dismissed, small but crucial contributions from the likes of Michael Hussey, Ben Rohrer, and Aiden Blizzard guided the franchise to a historic title glory. 

Also read: First non-white cricketer Omar Henry to play for South Africa was born in 1952