2015–16 Big Bash League season


The 2015–16 Big Bash League season was the fifth season of the Big Bash League, the top-class Twenty20 cricket competition in Australia. The tournament ran from 17 December 2015 to 24 January 2016.
The title was won by Sydney Thunder, who defeated Melbourne Stars by three wickets in [|the final] to claim their first title. Perth Scorchers, who had been seeking a third successive title, lost to the Stars in the semi-final, failing to reach the final for the first time. Chris Lynn of the Brisbane Heat was the tournament's leading run-scorer, scoring 378 runs from eight matches, and was named player of the tournament. The leading wicket-taker was Clint McKay of Sydney Thunder, who took 18 wickets from ten matches. Travis Head of the Adelaide Strikers was named the best player under 25, scoring 299 runs and taking six wickets.

Pre-season

Squads

League stage

Points table

Match summary

Matches

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Play-offs

Semi-final 1

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Semi-final 2

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Final

Statistics

PlayerTeamRuns
Chris LynnBrisbane Heat378
Usman KhawajaSydney Thunder345
Kevin PietersenMelbourne Stars323
Michael HusseySydney Thunder306
Travis HeadAdelaide Strikers299

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    Notable events

The opening Sydney Derby match was played for the "Batting for Change Trophy" at Spotless Stadium. During the match money was raised for the Batting for Change charity after every six which was hit.
The [|January 2] match between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers at the WACA Ground saw the clubs wearing Batman and Superman playing gear as a part of a league partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures.

TV audience

Matches were broadcast in Australia by the free-to-air Network Ten. Network Ten's BBL coverage has become a regular feature of Australian summers and attracted an average audience of 1.13 million for each match in Australia this season, an 18% increase on the previous season. A cumulative audience of 9.65 million watched the BBL matches in Australia, out of which 39% were females.
The opening Sydney Derby match attracted more a peak audience of 1.53 million. A peak audience of 1.05 million watched the second innings of the match in the five major capital cities, making it then the highest-rating non-finals match in BBL history. This record was broken in the last match between Renegades and Strikers when Session 2 was watched by an average audience of 1.36 million, which peaked at 1.67 million.
The BBL Final was watched by an average audience of 1.79 million, which peaked at 2.24 million viewers. This was the first time that the ratings for a BBL match crossed the 2 million mark.
Following are the television ratings for 2015–16 BBL season in Australia.