The race for the top four is over with the Scorchers, Sixers, Hurricanes and Stars the BBL|15 finalists
As it happened: Sixers down Heat to secure BBL|15 finals spot
The Sixers have secured the last spot in the KFC BBL|15 finals, downing the Heat in a virtual elimination to join the Scorchers, Hurricanes and Stars in the top four.
The finals race went down to the last game of the regular season at the Gabba as Brisbane Heat were knocked out of the running by Mitchell Starc's four wickets and half-centuries to Steve Smith and Sam Curran.
The Scorchers locked top spot by defeating the Stars and will host the Qualifier against the Sixers at Optus Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes were the first to cement their top four spot but a final-ball loss to the Heat, which followed a washout against the Sixers, meant they slipped to third on the table. They will host the Knockout against the fourth-placed Stars on Wednesday, the latter missing a chance to claim top spot by losing their last game of the home-and-away campaign to the Scorchers.
The Sixers' win over the Heat catapulted them into second with a double-chance in the finals. The Heat meanwhile finished the season in fifth, joining Sydney Thunder, Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers who were already out of the running in the bottom half of the standings.
1. Perth Scorchers
The Scorchers sealed top spot and hosting rights of the Qualifier, defeating the Stars at Optus Stadium in front of 48,608 fans – the highest Scorchers crowd to ever attend a home-and-away match.
The Scorchers face the Sixers on Tuesday for a spot in the decider, which the winner will also host.
2. Sydney Sixers
The Sixers were the last team to seal a top four spot with victory over the Heat in a virtual elimination on Sunday night at the Gabba. The match looked up for grabs as late as the final four overs, only for the Sixers' middle order of Sam Curran (53no) and Lachlan Shaw (17 off 12 deliveries) to capitalise on the platform laid by Steve Smith (54 off 40) and seal a finals berth, ending the Heat's campaign in the process.
The in-form Sixers, who are undefeated in their past six matches, now travel to Perth to face the Scorchers on Tuesday for a spot in the BBL|15 Final.
3. Hobart Hurricanes
The defending champions missed a chance to seal top spot for the second straight season when their run chase fell apart late against the Heat on Wednesday, losing 6-32 as they failed to scale the six required of the final over.
The Scorchers' win over the Renegades then confirmed that the winner of their clash with the Stars will overtake the Hurricanes on the ladder. The ended up slipping to third and missing a double-chance after the Sixers won their final match. The 'Canes will host the Stars in the sudden-death Knockout on Wednesday night, with the winner to progress to face the loser of Tuesday's Qualifier.
Prior to the Heat loss, the Hurricanes had been almost flawless after dropping a game to the Stars, winning five of six matches through the middle of the season to seal a top four spot despite the loss of star batter Tim David to a season-ending hamstring injury.
4. Melbourne Stars
Started hot with four straight wins but the Stars went on to drop three games on the trot. Victory over the Renegades in Saturday's Melbourne Derby helped right the ship and the win over the Strikers at home on Tuesday confirmed a finals spot.
After going down to the Scorchers in Perth, the Stars missed out on a double chance and will need to be flawless with two wins in a row to reach the Final, beginning with their Knockout clash against the Hurricanes on Wednesday.
5. Brisbane Heat
Agony for the Heat who were knocked out of the running when they went down to the Sixers in the final match of the regular season and finished fifth, two points out of the top four. Nathan McSweeney's unbeaten 69 helped the home side recover from a disastrous start of 3-18, only for half-centuries to Steve Smith and Sam Curran to take the game, and a finals spot, away from them.
The Heat paid the price for a topsy-turvy first half of the season where they couldn't string two wins together until games eight and nine.
6. Adelaide Strikers
Adelaide needed wins in their last two games to keep their season alive but a heavy loss to the Stars at the MCG ended their hopes on Tuesday.
But they finished the season on a high with a dominant eight-wicket win over the Renegades at the Adelaide Oval to give their loyal home fans something to cheer for.
7. Melbourne Renegades
Two thrilling final-over victories, first against crosstown rivals the Stars and then away at Optus Stadium against the Scorchers, revived the Renegades finals chances after three losses in a row, only for a home-ground loss to the Stars in the return Melbourne derby to bring them back to earth with a thud. Then, a disastrous away loss to the last-placed Thunder all but extinguished their hopes.
Will Sutherland's side had an improbable mathematical shot of finals with two games to play, but a loss to the Scorchers on Thursday confirmed the 'Gades won't be playing finals in BBL|15, the sixth time in the past seven seasons they've missed out.
There was no consolation on offer in the final game either as they were bowled out for 99 by the Strikers to ultimately go down by eight wickets.
8. Sydney Thunder
After a runners-up finish last year, Thunder plummeted to the very bottom in BBL|15.
They lost five games in a row after also beginning the season with two losses, and while captain David Warner was in great touch with a career-best 130 followed by knocks of 67no, 82 and 110no, he's had little support.
Snapped their five-match losing streak with a consolation four-wicket win against the Renegades in their final home game of the season, but they couldn't finish on a high after Warner's second ton was overshadowed by Steve Smith's almost unbelievable knock in the Sydney Smash at the SCG.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SCO
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.363 | 0 | 14 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.605 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
HUR
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.759 | 0 | 12 |
|
5
HEA
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.431 | 0 | 10 |
|
6
STR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.231 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.202 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -1.212 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points