The Sydney Sixers suffered a record nine-wicket loss in Saturday's Big Bash final at the WACA as Michael Klinger ensured the Perth Scorchers romped to a third title in four years.
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Klinger blasted a straight six off Johan Botha to wrap up the emphatic win in the 16th over, his magnificent unbeaten 71 condemning Sydney to the biggest ever loss by a team batting first in a BBL final.
Their 9-141 was never going to be enough, and opening pair Klinger and Sam Whiteman batted as if there was a dinner cruise on the Swan River in the glorious Perth weather that they were immediately required to attend.
Whiteman's 41 from 21 was only bettered by Klinger's third half century of the tournament which yielded five sixes and a further five boundaries.
The only man who struck a blow was crowd favourite Nathan Lyon, who had Whiteman stumped with the score at 75. That was about all the handful of Sixers' fans had to cheer all night.
"They're just a very disciplined bowling attack and fielding unit," Sixers captain Moises Henriques said after the crushing loss.
"I thought we were probably 20 or 30 runs short and we didn't execute with the ball as well."
"They don't give you anything. They bowl to their plans, they don't go away from them, they keep backing them. They've had a few injuries as well and whoever stepped into that line-up has just seamlessly done it and done the same job.
"With the likes of [Nathan] Coulter-Nile and [Jason] Behrendorff who haven't played all year, you've got young kids like [Jhye] Richardson coming up and stepping into the role."
Just like they did in winning the semi-final against Melbourne on Tuesday, the Scorchers won the toss and opted to bowl first in front of their parochial orange-clad fans.
And much the same as four days ago, the Scorchers had their visiting opponents reeling after taking three early wickets. Just three overs in, the score was 3-17.
Opener Daniel Hughes hit Ashton Turner straight to mid off before Nic Maddinson took on Richardson in the deep and was run out for just one attempting to double up on his first scoring shot.
There would be much more to come from Richardson, but before he was handed the ball, Michael Lumb edged one to wicketkeeper Whiteman off the once-more fiery bowling of Mitchell Johnson.
The Scorchers' destroyer wasn't as prolific as his 3-3 return on semi-final night, but still made for a tidy scoreboard with his 1-13.
On this occasion Richardson was the conqueror.
A Brad Haddin-inspired resurrection of the innings which included 38 from 25 balls and two sumptuous sixes down the ground was curtailed by a Richardson short ball which was spooned to Klinger's eagerly awaiting clutches at mid wicket.
Speculation remains rife about Haddin's future in the Big Bash beyond this year, and Henriques was hopeful the veteran wicketkeeper would play on for another season.
"We saw him bat tonight, he batted beautifully tonight, it'd be nice for us if he could churn out a few more performances like that next year," Henriques said.
"He actually gave us a chance of getting back in and posting a 160-plus total with the way he batted. He's very calm under pressure, he's a great role model not just as a cricketer but as a person."
Henriques fell soon after Haddin in almost identical fashion to the keeper and then Jordan Silk, recalled to cover New Zealand international Colin Munro, also lost his wicket to Richardson.
He finished with 3-30 from his four overs and the Sixers' skittling was almost complete.
Englishman Tim Bresnan stepped up to fill the void and pilfered three lower-order scalps - Sean Abbott, Luke Dwarshuis and the dangerous Botha who had injected some respectability into the total with an entertaining 32.
Meanwhile, Brisbane Heat star Chris Lynn has been named player of the Big Bash despite featuring in just five games for the season.
Lynn's 309 runs which included several match-winning performances and an astounding 26 sixes. His 98 not out at the WACA in Perth against the eventual champions will long be remembered as one of the great BBL knocks.
The powerful Queenslander finished narrowly clear of the Sixers' Sean Abbott, who finished as the competition's leading wicket taker, and Adelaide's Ben Dunk.
Abbott's 20 wickets also earned him the honour of BBL Young Gun, having received the most votes for a player under the age of 25.
