Big Bash League final recap: Perth Scorchers battle Sydney Sixers for sixth title

Super start from Super Cooper!

He bowls three dot balls to Hughes to start, and concedes a solitary single for the over. Brilliant first up (and conservative from the Sixers early).

A smattering of boos, too, for Steve Smith for some reason.

Jhye Richardson to take the ball at the other end.

It’s Cooper Connolly with the ball as he looks to add to his superb first-over record!

Daniel Hughes will face, and we’re underway...

Here’s The West’s cricket writer Jackson Barrett on Perth’s selection debate.

The Scorchers considered adding Nick Hobson as an extra bat, or inserting Joel Paris after his injury lay-off, but ultimately stuck with Brody Couch and the winning XI from the qualifying final just five days ago.

We’ll have a 5-minute delay to the scheduled start time, due to that rain earlier.

It’s pyrotechics aplenty as Jungle Giants perform a pre-game set here. Steve Smith’s due to head to the crease in the coming minutes... can he continue his blazing-hot form at the back end of this BBL season, or is he due to finally fall cheaply?

Here’s Mitchell Johnson’s take on the Scorchers - Sixers rivalry heading into today’s match.

Sydney have had to travel from Sydney to Brisbane to Perth to Sydney and then back to Perth in the space of just over a week, while the Scorchers have stayed put in WA that whole time. Will that have any bearing on the result today?

SCORCHERS

1. Finn Allen
2. Mitch Marsh
3. Aaron Hardie
4. Josh Inglis
5. Cooper Connolly
6. Ashton Turner
7. Laurie Evans
8. Jhye Richardson
9. David Payne
10. Mahli Beardman
11. Brody Crouch

SIXERS

1. Steve Smith
2. Daniel Hughes
3. Josh Philippe
4. Moises Henriques
5. Lachlan Shaw
6. Jack Edwards
7. Joel Davies
8. Ben Manenti
9. Ben Dwarshuis
10. Sean Abbott
11. Mitchell Starc

It’s an early win for the Scorchers!

Ashton Turner calls correctly, and Perth will field first.

The Scorchers and Sixers are both unchanged team-wise.

Hurrah! Ground staff are peeling back the covers, and the teams are making their way onto the ground for warm-ups. We should have a flip shortly.

We’re officially into bat flip delay territory, unfortunately.

But in more promising signs, the rain has stoped for a few minutes, and people are wheeling out some pyrotechnic machines in an indication we’ve hopefully seen the worst of it for now.

While we await the covers coming off, there’s no shortage of people in and around the Optus Stadium precinct desperate to watch their Scorchers hoist the trophy.

We’re every chance of breaking the BBL record crowd in Perth of 53,886 today, with close to 55,000 expected. Again, here’s hoping we’ve got a full 40 overs to witness.

Rain continues to sprinkle lightly, which means we’re likely to have to scheduled toss time nudged back at this stage.