Big Bash League: On January 27 (Monday), Nathan Ellis’s led Hobart Hurricanes created history by claiming their maiden championship title by triumphing over Sydney Thunders by 7 wickets in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2024-25 final at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart.
The runner-up of the 2013–14 and 2017–18 seasons has made their success even more memorable chasing a challenging target of 183 with 35 balls to spare in front of their home crowd.
Opting to field first, the hosts were in a tough situation with Sydney Thunders piling up 58 runs without losing any wickets in the powerplay overs. The openers Jason Sangha’s 42-ball-67-run (including 5 fours and 2 sixers) and David Warner’s 32-ball-48-run knock provided a fierce start for the thunders.
However, Nathan Ellis and Riley Meredith claiming a 3-wicket haul each, brought back the innings to control that restricted the Thunders to 182-7 in 20 overs. In response, the Hurricanes were set off to an energetic start riding on the opening batter Mitchell Owen’s 42-ball-108-run knock, which included 6 fours and 11 sixes at a strike rate of 257.14.
As Hobart Hurricanes lift their first Big Bash League (BBL) trophy in the 14th edition, the prize money they receive alone seems modest compared to its Indian replication— The Indian Premier League (IPL).
Despite BBL offering lucrative financial prizes for top players achieving impressive stats and records throughout the season, there is a sharp contrast to IPL’s jaw-dropping bounties for award winners. This is due to the high financial dominance that keeps IPL unchallenged by other franchise T20 Leagues.
BBL 2024-25 Award Winners and Prize Money
Here is detailed information on how the overall prize money of AU$1 million (INR 5.5 crore approximately) was distributed to these award winners of Big Bash League (BBL) 2024-25:
| Award Winners | Team / Player | Prize Money (in terms of AUD) | Prize Money (in terms of INR) |
| Tournament Winners | Hobart Hurricanes | AU$500K | ₹ 2.75 crore |
| Runner-Up | Sydney Thunders | AU$250K | ₹ 1.37 crore |
| 3rd Placed Team | Sydney Sixers | AU$100K | ₹ 55 lakh |
| 4th Placed Team | Melbourne Stars | AU$100K | ₹ 55 lakh |
| 5th Placed Team | Perth Scorchers | AU$30K | ₹ 16.5 lakh |
| Man of the Match in the BBL 2024-25 final | Mitchell Owen (Hobart Hurricanes) | – | – |
| Player of the Season | To Be Declared During Cricket Australia Awards | AU$10K | ₹ 5.5 lakh |
| Batter of the Season | Mitchell Owen (Hobart Hurricanes) | AU$5k | ₹ 2.75 lakh |
| Bowler of the Season | Jason Behrendorff (Perth Scorchers) | AU$5k | ₹ 2.75 lakh |
| Rookie Player of the Season | Yet to Be Announced | AU$5k | ₹ 2.75 lakh |
BBL vs IPL Prize Money Comparison
In contrast to BBL’s total prize money of INR 5.5 crore, the IPL offered a mammoth reward of INR 47.36 crore in the previous season. The following table is a detailed comparison that helps to understand the huge difference in how the Indian and Australian Men’s franchise T20 leagues has allocated the overall prize pool to the award winners in the 2024-25 season:
| Awards | BBL Prize Money (in terms of INR) | IPL Prize Money (in terms of INR) | Prize Money Higher than BBL |
| Champions | INR 20 crore | INR 2.75 crore | 7.3x times higher than BBL |
| Runner-Up | INR 1.37 crore | INR 13 crore | 9.5x times higher than BBL |
| 3rd placed teams | INR 55 lakh | INR 7 crore | 7.85x times higher than BBL |
| 4th placed teams | INR 55 lakh | INR 6.5 crore | 12x times higher than BBL |
| Top Batsman and Bowler of the season | INR 15 lakh | INR 2.75 lakh each for the Orange Cap (Top Batsman) and Purple Cap (Top Bowler) | 2.7x times higher than BBL |
| Rookie Player of the Tournament in BBL (Emerging player of the season in IPL) | INR 2.75 lakh | INR 20 lakh | 7.27x times higher than BBL |
Interesting Stats From BBL 14: Batting and Bowling Performances
These are the notable batting and bowling stats from the recently concluded 14th edition of the Big Bash League tabulated below in detail:
BATTING STATS:
| Stats | Player | Team in BBL 2024-25 | Performance |
| Leading Run Scorer of the Season | Mitchell Owen | Hobart Hurricanes | 452 Runs in 11 Matches |
| Highest Individual Scorer | Steven Smith | Sydney Sixers | 121 Runs out of 64 Balls (including 10 fours and 7 sixes) vs Brisbane Heat |
| Top Batting Average | Steven Smith | Sydney Sixers | 173.00 |
| Excellent Batting Strike Rate | Daniel Sams | Sydney Thunders | 214.29 |
| Most Centuries | Mitchell Owen | Hobart Hurricanes | 2 Centuries |
| Most Half-Centuries | David Warner | Sydney Thunders | 3 Half-Centuries |
| Maximum Fours | David Warner | Sydney Thunders | 44 Fours |
| Maximum Sixes | Mitchell Owen | Hobart Hurricanes | 36 Sixes |
BOWLING STATS:
| Stats | Player | Team in BBL 2024-25 | Performance |
| Leading Wicket-taker of the season | Jason Behrendorff | Perth Scorchers | 17 wickets in 10 matches |
| Impressive Bowling Average | Mark Steketee | Melbourne Stars | 15 wickets in 6 matches |
| Outstanding Bowling Figures | Nathan McAndrew | Sydney Thunders | 5-16 in 4 overs vs Melbourne Stars |
| Most 5-Fers | Mark Steketee | Melbourne Stars | One 5-fer vs Melbourne Stars |
| Top Economy | Fabian Allen | Adelaide Strikers | 5.00 |
| Top Bowling Strike Rate | Mark Steketee | Melbourne Stars | 7.80 |