Fans flock back to BBL as 40,000 witness NYE thriller

The Big Bash is back to its best with the KFC BBL's biggest crowd since before the pandemic turning out to the Strikers' New Year's Eve blockbuster against the Stars.

A pulsating 40,373 fans were treated to one of the games of the season so far as the visitors put on 7-186 from their 20 overs in what was a welcome return to form for Aussie allrounder Marcus Stoinis who belted 74 off 35 balls, including four sixes in an over into the packed Adelaide Oval crowd.

They were then kept on their edge of their seats as English import Adam Hose and hometown hero Henry Hunt went to work to overhaul the sizeable total, with the hosts falling just short in the final over.

Saturday night's attendance was the largest BBL crowd since January 4, 2020, when 54,478 witnessed the Stars take down crosstown rivals the Renegades in the BBL|09 Melbourne Derby at the MCG.

And just four days before that 41,104 had turned out to that season's New Year's Eve clash in Adelaide, where Rashid Khan's epic cameo of 40 off 18 balls almost pulled the Strikers over the line in the final over.

Tonight's figure was also more than November's T20 World Cup semi-final at the same venue where 40,094 fans saw England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales make light work of the India attack, making it the largest attended cricket match in Adelaide since before the pandemic.

"It's a wonderful event on the calendar, we think it's the best crowd in the country and they all come out in force New Year's Eve," Strikers coach Jason Gillespie said during the broadcast.

"We love playing here, we love putting on a show … it’s a lot of fun to play here and we just like to go out and entertain the crowd as best we can.

Attendances in BBL|12 have been gaining momentum as the season has gone on with the Scorchers pulling in three straight crowds in excess of 21,000 at Perth Stadium, including 27,752 against the Stars on Thursday that caught WA pace ace Jhye Richardson off guard.

"The more exciting part of that whole experience of being on a hat-trick was how loud the crowd was," Richardson said post-match.

"I haven't experienced that here with this crowd, it was utterly amazing and rattled me a little bit actually because it didn't start until I was midway through my run up and caught me off guard.

"We play really well at Perth Stadium now, we've made it a bit of a fortress and I think teams dread coming here to (play) us."

Attendances were also strong at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong on December 30 with 12,336 fans watching the Renegades take on the Sixers, and an almost capacity 10,171 crowd witnessed the Thunder claim the first BBL competition points at Lavington Sports Ground in Albury by beating the Hurricanes.

"It's pretty exciting to get down here for their first Big Bash game and hopefully we can get an even bigger crowd next time," player-of-the-match Ollie Davies said following his 65 off 32 balls.

"I don't think I've ever seen so many kids wanting autographs, it's awesome."

Big crowds are also expected in the coming few days at the Heat's New Year's Day clash against the Sixers at the Gabba tomorrow and the first Melbourne derby of the season on Tuesday night at the MCG featuring a revamped Renegades outfit and a Stars line-up desperate to kickstart their season.

Meanwhile, the most anticipated showdown of BBL|12 still looms with the second Sydney Smash on January 21 set to feature David Warner and the Thunder going head-to-head with Steve Smith and the Sixers at what is expected to be a packed SCG.