2015–16 Sydney Thunder season

Sydney Thunder

2015–16 season
Coach	Paddy Upton
Captain(s)	Michael Hussey
Home ground	Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney
BBL	4th
BBL Finals	Winners
Leading Run Scorer	Usman Khawaja (345)
Leading Wicket Taker	Andre Russell (16)
Highest home attendance	21,500 vs Strikers (28 December 2015)
Lowest home attendance	18,287 vs Sixers (17 December 2015)
Average home attendance	19,333

Ladder

Team	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR	Qualification
Adelaide Strikers	8	7	1	0	14	+0.544	Teams qualified for the semi-finals
Melbourne Stars (R)	8	5	3	0	10	+0.366
Perth Scorchers	8	5	3	0	10	+0.181
Sydney Thunder (W)	8	4	4	0	8	+0.375
Melbourne Renegades	8	3	5	0	6	-0.041	Teams eliminated after regular season
Brisbane Heat	8	3	5	0	6	-0.204
Hobart Hurricanes	8	3	5	0	6	-0.955
Sydney Sixers	8	2	6	0	4	-0.330

Point table on ESPN CricInfo

Ladder progress

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Ground	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A
Result	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	W
Position	1	2	1	2	3	4	5	3

Ground: A = Away; H = Home; B = Bye. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win

Regular season

17 December 19:40 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Sydney Thunder 4/158 (20 overs)	v	Sydney Sixers 122 (19.5 overs)
Michael Hussey 80* (59) Trent Lawford 1/12 (2 overs)		Michael Lumb 34 (27) Andre Russell 3/13 (4 overs)

Sydney Thunder won by 36 runs Spotless Stadium Attendance: 18,287[1] Umpires: Geoff Joshua and Paul Wilson Player of the match: Michael Hussey (Thunder)

• Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.

20 December 19:25 (D/N) Scorecard

Sydney Thunder 6/178 (20 overs)	v	Melbourne Stars (H) 5/177 (20 overs)
Usman Khawaja 109* (70) Glenn Maxwell 2/28 (4 overs)		Kevin Pietersen 76 (42) Andre Russell 2/28 (4 overs)

Sydney Thunder won by 1 run Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 18,809[2] Umpires: Shawn Craig and Paul Wilson Player of the match: Usman Khawaja (Thunder)

• Melbourne Stars won the toss and elected to field.

28 December 19:10 (D/N) Scorecard

Adelaide Strikers 9/117 (20 overs)	v	Sydney Thunder (H) 3/121 (16.3 overs)
Brad Hodge 34 (33) Clint McKay 2/18 (3 overs)		Jacques Kallis 49* (48) Ben Laughlin 2/22 (2.3 overs)

Sydney Thunder won by 7 wickets Spotless Stadium Attendance: 21,500[3] Umpires: Gerard Abood and Greg Davidson Player of the match: Andre Russell (Thunder)

• Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to bat.
• The crowd of 21,500 is the highest attendance for a cricket match at Spotless Stadium and the second highest attendance for any sport at the stadium.
• Billy Stanlake (Strikers) made his T20 debut.

1 January 19:10 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Hobart Hurricanes 6/163 (20 overs)	v	Sydney Thunder 9/152 (20 overs)
George Bailey 56* (29) Clint McKay 4/28 (3 overs)		Michael Hussey 71 (51) Shaun Tait 3/16 (4 overs)

Hobart Hurricanes won by 11 runs Blundstone Arena Attendance: 17,151[4] Umpires: Phillip Gillespie and Geoff Joshua Player of the match: Shaun Tait (Hurricanes)

• Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
• The crowd of 17,151 is the highest crowd at Blundstone Arena for a cricket match and the second highest crowd for any sport at the stadium.^[4]

3 January 18:10 (D/N) Scorecard

Sydney Thunder 5/186 (20 overs)	v	Brisbane Heat (H) 4/189 (19.3 overs)
Michael Hussey 56 (43) Samuel Badree 1/26 (4 overs)		Chris Lynn 75 (32) Andre Russell 2/28 (4 overs)

Brisbane Heat won by 6 wickets The Gabba Attendance: 27,507[5] Umpires: Simon Fry and Michael Graham-Smith Player of the match: Chris Lynn (Heat)

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field.

7 January 19:40 (D/N) Scorecard

Perth Scorchers 5/175 (20 overs)	v	Sydney Thunder (H) 9/145 (20 overs)
Cam Bancroft 72 (53) Andre Russell 2/31 (4 overs)		Andre Russell 42 (20) Andrew Tye 3/22 (4 overs)

Perth Scorchers won by 30 runs Spotless Stadium Attendance: 18,942[6] Umpires: Greg Davidson and Paul Wilson Player of the match: Cam Bancroft (Scorchers)

• Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.

11 January 19:40 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Sydney Thunder 5/173 (20 overs)	v	Melbourne Renegades 5/176 (19.2 overs)
Usman Khawaja 62 (42) Dwayne Bravo 2/26 (4 overs)		Cameron White 61 (46) Andre Russell 2/42 (4 overs)

Melbourne Renegades won by 5 wickets Spotless Stadium Attendance: 18,602[7] Umpires: Gerard Abood and Shawn Craig Player of the match: Cameron White (Renegades)

• Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.

Knockout phase

	Semifinals					Final
	1	Adelaide Strikers (H)	7/159 (20 ov)
	4	Sydney Thunder	2/160 (17.4 ov)
						2	Melbourne Stars (H)	9/176 (20 ov)
						4	Sydney Thunder	7/181 (19.3 ov)
	3	Perth Scorchers	7/139 (20 ov)
	2	Melbourne Stars (H)	3/140 (18.1 ov)

Semi Finals

The top four teams from the group stage qualified for the semi finals.

21 January 19:10 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Adelaide Strikers 7/159 (20 overs)	v	Sydney Thunder 2/160 (17.4 overs)
Alex Ross 47 (38) Clint McKay 3/44 (4 overs)		Usman Khawaja 104* (59) Ben Laughlin 1//21 (3 overs)

Sydney Thunder won by 8 wickets Adelaide Oval Attendance: 48,699[8] Umpires: Gerard Abood and Simon Fry Player of the match: Usman Khawaja (Thunder)

• Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

Final 24 January 19:20 (D/N) Scorecard

(H) Melbourne Stars 9/176 (20 overs)	v	Sydney Thunder 7/181 (19.3 overs)
Kevin Pietersen 74 (39) Shane Watson 2/17 (3 overs)		Usman Khawaja 70 (40) Marcus Stoinis 3/30 (4 overs)

Sydney Thunder won by 3 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 47,672[9] Umpires: Simon Fry and Sam Nogajski Player of the match: Usman Khawaja (Thunder)

• Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.

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2015/16 squad

Players with international caps are listed in bold.

Name	Nat	Birth date	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Notes
Batsmen
Michael Hussey		27 May 1975	Left-handed	Right arm medium	Captain
Usman Khawaja		18 December 1986	Left-handed	Right arm medium
Aiden Blizzard		27 June 1984	Left-handed	Left arm medium
Kurtis Patterson		5 April 1993	Left-handed	Right arm off spin
Ben Rohrer		26 March 1981	Left-handed
Ahillen Beadle		29 August 1986	Left-handed	Left arm orthodox
Jake Doran		2 December 1996	Left-handed	Right arm medium
All-rounders
Jacques Kallis		16 October 1975	Right-handed	Right arm fast	Overseas player
Andre Russell		29 April 1988	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium	Overseas player
Andrew McDonald		15 June 1981	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
Shane Watson		17 June 1981	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
Wicket-keepers
Chris Hartley		24 May 1982	Left-handed	—
Bowlers
Pat Cummins		8 May 1993	Right-handed	Right arm fast
Clint McKay		22 February 1983	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium
Gurinder Sandhu		14 February 1993	Left-handed	Right arm fast medium
Alister McDermott		7 June 1991	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium
Chris Green		1 October 1993	Right-handed	Right arm off spin
Fawad Ahmed		5 February 1982	Right-handed	Right arm leg spin

Home attendance

Game Opponent Attendance 2 Sydney Sixers 18,287 3 Adelaide Strikers 21,500 6 Perth Scorchers 18,942 8 Melbourne Renegades 18,602 Total Attendance 77,331 Average Attendance 19,333 References #SydneySmash breaks ratings record cricket.com.au. Retrieved on 18 Dec, 2015 Early rain didn't shy away the 18,809 Stars fans twitter.com/StarsBBL. Retrieved 20 Dec, 2015 IT'S A SELL OUT AT SPOTLESS STADIUM! 21,500 people are in & the full house sign has gone up. #ThunderNation Foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 28 Dec, 2015 WOW!!! The BIGGEST EVER crowd for a cricket match @BlundstoneArena twitter.com/HurricanesBBL. Retrieved on 1 January 2016 Another great crowd of 27,507 in the house to watch a grandstand finish. 39 needed from 22 balls. #TurnUpTheHeat #BBL05 twitter.com/HeatBBL. Retrieved on 3 Jan, 2016 Final Crowd Figure for tonight's game v @ScorchersBBL is 18, 942. Thankyou #ThunderNation for showing your support again #BBL05 twitter.com/ThunderBBL. Retrieved on 8 Jan, 2016 Official attendance for tonight's game is 18, 602, thank you again for your support #ThunderNation #BBL05 twitter.com/ThunderBBL. Retrieved 11 Jan, 2015 Not going all our way on the field at the moment, but another incredible turnout from the #strikeforce! twitter.com/StrikersBBL. Retrieved on 21 January 2016 47,672 in the house for the #BBLFinal, 47,000 of them wanting to see #TeamGreen win! Thunder need 25 from 18 balls... twitter.com/StarsBBL. Retrieved on 25 January 2016 External links Official website of the Sydney Thunder Official website of the Big Bash League