Laurie Evans smashed an unbeaten 76 off 41 balls to help blast the Perth Scorchers past the Sydney Sixers to their fourth BBL title in Melbourne on Friday.

His fireworks propelled the Scorchers to 171-6 off their 20 overs with the Sixers all out for 92 from 16.2 overs in reply for a 79-run win.

It was revenge for the Scorchers who were beaten by their arch-rivals in the decider last season.

“What can I say, the guys deserve this,” said Man of the Match Evans. “They’ve sacrificed a lot, not being able to get home and stuff like that. I’m just really proud we got over the line today.”

The clash completed another tournament marred by the pandemic with the game played at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium with the roof shut after torrential rain.

The Scorchers nominated the venue as their “home” ground as they are unable to return to Western Australia, with the state border still shut to the rest of the country due to Covid concerns.

“Congratulations to Perth, the best team all year and probably fitting you won tonight,” said Sixers skipper Moises Henriques.

Henriques won the toss and opted to bowl and it looked to be a good decision when the Scorchers slumped to 25-4 after six overs.

But an incredible 104-run partnership by skipper Ashton Turner (54) and Evans flipped the match in their favour.

Evans smacked four boundaries and four sixes in his explosive knock with Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe both taking two wickets each.

The Scorchers have been kings of defending low totals this season and the omens didn’t bode well for the Sixers when they lost Hayden Kerr cheaply in the second over.

Daniel Hughes hit a quickfire 42 before being run out to give them a glimmer of hope, but it was always an uphill battle with Nicholas Bertus (15) and Jay Lenton (10) the only other players to make double figures.

Andrew Tye did the damage with 3-15 off three overs. He was on a hat-trick at one point after dismissing Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis, only for Lyon to fend off his third ball.

The Scorchers and Sixers, who are three-time champions, are the only two franchises to have clinched multiple titles in Australia’s T20 competition.

© Agence France-Presse