Surge Pod: Finch names his favourites to lift BBL|15 trophy

Former Australian white-ball and BBL title winning captain Aaron Finch believes the Sydney Sixers will be favourites to win the KFC BBL|15 Final, armed with the lessons from their loss to the Perth Scorchers earlier in the week.  

For the sixth time in BBL history, the two clubs will meet each other in the title clash, with the Scorchers eyeing an unprecedented sixth trophy, and the Sixers their fourth.

Joining the latest episode of the Surge Podcast, Finch said he was not surprised to see the two most successful sides in the competition’s history making it to yet another title decider.

“We seem to be here more often than not in the 15 years,” he said.

“That’s an extraordinary amount that these two have played in a Final.

“They’re clearly the best two for the season, and they are the two teams that continue to get it done under pressure at the business end.

Finch attributed the success of the two clubs to maintaining a consistent core group of players over the years that has allowed the teams to build trust and cohesion within their groups.

“You understand what it takes to get the best out of each other,” he explained. “It’s no secret why they’ve been so successful.”

The Sixers-Scorchers rivalry goes back to the Final of the inaugural edition where the side from Sydney had defeated Scorchers at the WACA to lift the BBL|01 title.

Now, as the Sixers return to Perth after defeating the Hobart Hurricanes in the Challenger, their captain Moises Henriques is joined by two of his teammates from that side from 15 years back – Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc – as they look to repeat the feat.

The inclusion of Smith and Starc after the Ashes series wrapped up earlier in the month has been a major contributing factor in the Sixers progression to the Final after a mixed start to the season.

Smith has been particularly vital, amassing 275 runs in five knocks, including a century, at a commendable strike-rate of 167.

“Having the injection of Steve Smith to the top of the order, that brings a lot of runs, that brings a confidence to the rest of the group, which is unquantifiable,” Finch noted. “The fact that he walks in and says, ‘You know what, I’m the big dog here. I’m going to play how everybody expects me to play, and how I want to express myself in T20 cricket’.”

Such has been Smith’s dominance since his arrival that he has scored just under 40 percent of the Sixers’ total runs in those five games combined.

That, however, leaves the side vulnerable in case of a rare failure from the veteran to post a big score and the Sixers will be vary of the outcome, having bottled a chase against the same side earlier in the week.

The Sixers were all out on 99 in their chase of a modest 148 as the rest of the batting unit failed to stick around with Smith, whose lone battle was ultimately ended by Mahli Beardman on 37 off 24.

Finch said the other Sixers batters simply need to support Smith when he is on song, rather than trying to match him in the middle, sharing a learning from his own storied T20 career.

“I texted Greg Shipperd (Sixers coach) after the first final that they lost,” Finch revealed.

“I said, ‘Do your boys not understand that you’re batting with probably the greatest player you’ll ever see?’

“Enjoy batting at the other end, get him on strike and watch the show.

“But they’re all trying to compete with him, and you don’t do that.

“I learnt that the hard way, trying to compete with David Warner. You’re never going to win that battle.”

Smith’s battle with young quick Beardman will again be the one to watch out for in Sunday’s Final.

The 20-year-old’s game changing spell off 3-20 from three overs was the key to the Scorchers’ successful defence of their total in the Qualifier.

Finch is impressed with the youngster’s showing in this tournament that has earned him a call-up to the Australian T20 side for the upcoming tour of Pakistan.

“Every opportunity that’s been presented to him, he’s taken it,” he said.

“He looks like a player who thinks his way through situations as well, which is a great sign for such a young player.

“He knows when to use his slow balls. He knows when to almost bluff a batter as well.

“I’ve loved what he brought to the table. I love his passion. The other night, he was bringing out the Brett Lee chainsaw. It was brilliant.”

Another face-off that could define the course of action in the decider is the battle of the two Mitches – Marsh and Starc.

Starc has had the wood on the Australian white-ball captain in recent encounters. His dismissal of the Scorchers opener in the Qualifier was the fourth time in last seven meetings that he had got Marsh out.

For Marsh, there cannot be a bigger stage to extract his revenge, and he will be looking to use the Sixers stalwart’s pace to deposit him deep in the Optus Stadium’s stands.

Marsh and the Scorchers will also have the Perth crowd firmly and vocally behind them.

Having beaten the Sixers at the same venue just five days back, the home side will be labelled as favourites by many.

But not by Finch. He is backing the Sixers to identify and iron out their shortcomings and comeback stronger from their defeat to win the ultimate contest.

Finch reasoned that the Sixers bowlers will take confidence from restricting the Scorchers lineup to a sub-150 total on Tuesday and he expects the batting unit to amend its mistakes.

“They only got 147. Nine out of 10 times, you look at the Sydney Sixers, and you say, ‘right, perfect run chase’,” he said.

“They just imploded. They just smacked the wicket, and guys kept trying to hit the ball aerial.

“They will come with a better plan. They will come more well prepared than what they were the other night.

“So I think that it actually works the other way. I think it favours the Sydney Sixers.”

BBL|15 finals schedule

Qualifier: Perth Scorchers beat Sydney Sixers by 48 runs

Knockout: Hobart Hurricanes beat Melbourne Stars by three runs (DLS method)

Challenger: Sydney Sixers beat Hobart Hurricanes by 57 runs

Final: Perth Scorchers v Sydney Sixers, Optus Stadium (Sunday, January 25, 7.15pm AEDT)

*A reserve day on Monday, January 26 (7.15pm AEDT) is available for the Final

KFC BBL|15 standings