Published: Jan 14, 2016, 04:19 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 14, 2016, 04:41 PM (IST)
Melbourne: Adelaide will host the first Big Bash League (BBL) semifinal on January 21 regardless of finishing at first or second place in the standings. Adelaide Strikers’ last-gasp win over the Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday night at the Adelaide Oval cemented the Strikers a top-2 spot and, therefore, the right to host a home semifinal. Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed the semifinal scheduling given considerations around the BBL final weekend taking place at the same time as the final stage of the Tour Down Under bicycle event in Adelaide. READ: Chris Gayle post match antics during BBL won’t harm cricket says ICC CEO David Richardson
“We have decided to schedule the Strikers home semifinal on January 21, irrespective of whether they finish the regular season first or second on the ladder,” BBL head Anthony Everard said on Thursday. “The support from the Adelaide public for their BBL club has been magnificent, including selling out their last three home matches. Last season the Strikers also set the then-BBL attendance record when they hosted their semifinal against the Sydney Sixers at Adelaide Oval.”
The other BBL clubs in contention to host the other semifinal have been supportive of this decision.
Australia‘s domestic T20 cricket tournament Big Bash League has burst into the top 10 most attended sports leagues in the world. A crowd of 80,883 turned up at the MCG for the Melbourne derby between the Stars and Renegades last week ago and the organisers of the T20 tournament, in its fifth edition, were still trying to digest the enormity of the interest in the league. The upcoming Sydney derby next Saturday is also poised to be an SCG domestic record of up to 42,000, an attendance that will only help drive the average crowd figures further north.
