Little separates them on paper, but Sydney reckon they’ve got one big up on Perth in Wednesday’s Big Bash League final: home ground advantage.
The Scorchers have hosted all three previous deciders at the WACA, claiming their first title last year in front of around 20,000 orange-clad fans.
But for the first time in the competition’s short history, the match is being played on a `neutral’ pitch – Canberra’s Manuka Oval.
“To be fair, it probably suits us because otherwise we would’ve been away this game,” Sixers skipper Moises Henriques said.
“It’s only 2.5 hours down the road from Sydney, Perth have had to travel a long way.
“It’s unfortunate they’ve been slightly disadvantaged but it plays into our hands a little bit.
“We’re going to have a lot more home fans here than we would’ve had in Perth.”
Scorchers chief executive Christina Matthews said the move was disappointing for fans, while West Australian premier Colin Barnett took it a step further and scorned organisers over the decision.
But Scorchers captain Adam Voges was more circumspect.
“It certainly is going to be a pro-Sydney crowd … but it is what it is,” he said.
“We’ve known throughout the whole tournament that the final was going to be played here.
“Yep, I’d love to be playing in front of 19,000 fans in orange back at home but … we’re just happy to be here in another final.”
Cricket Australia say they were forced to hold the final in Canberra due to the unavailability of several ground ahead of the World Cup.
Both the Scorchers and Sixers, the 2012 champions, are looking to become the first BBL franchise to win two titles.
Both finished the regular season with five wins from eight games, and had strong semi-final victories – Sydney by 87 runs over Adelaide and Perth by 18 runs over the Stars.
The Scorchers are unchanged from that win, while the Sixers have replaced Luke Doran with all-rounder Simon Keen.
The Scorchers boast one of the league’s best bowling attacks, with Jason Berendorff, Andrew Tye and Yasir Arafat among the top five wicket-takers for the tournament.
The Sixers, however, arguably have the better batting line-up, with Nic Maddinson, Jordan Silk and Michael Lumb.
Maddison has a league-high strike rate (154.97) and number of sixes (16), while Silk has the best average (67.25).
“I think we’re two very evenly-matched teams,” said Voges.
“We’ve some cracking games in the past. We’ve been on the right side the last couple, so we’ll take a lot of confidence out of that.
“But the Sixers are a very good side, and I think it’ll come down to those pressure moments in the game.”
Wednesday night’s decider will be Brett Lee’s swansong, with the former Australian fast-bowler retiring form all forms of cricket.
Sixers: Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott, Doug Bollinger, Ryan Carters Ed Cowan, Simon Keen, Brett Lee, Michael Lumb, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson Stephen O’Keefe, Jordan Silk, Riki Wessels.
Scorchers: Adam Voges , Ashton Agar, Yasir Arafat, Jason Behrendorff, Michael Carberry, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Marcus Harris, Brad Hogg, Michael Klinger, Shaun Marsh, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman.
