Top Five Individual Scores in BBL History

BBL08 starts on Wednesday in Brisbane when the reigning champions, Adelaide Strikers, face off against the hometown Heat. The competition will be the largest edition with 59 games, as each team plays each other twice, over two months of the Australian summer. Whilst several big names will miss out since India, and then Sri Lanka, are touring Australia, there will be some serious batting talent still on show.

In the first seven editions of the BBL, there have been a total of 18 scores of 100 or above. BBL05 saw the most centuries with five whilst BBL06 yielded just one. The last edition, BBL07, saw three centuries, and two of them feature in the top five of all time.

The first was scored by David Warner in 2011 before Chris Gayle followed up just six days later. In 2014, Craig Simmons added two centuries (including a 41-ball effort) in the space of less than three weeks. Other names included on the list are: Aaron Finch, Chris Lynn, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb and Michael Klinger. Remarkably, no batter for the Sydney Sixers has got to three figures.

To whet your appetite for Australia's showpiece T20 competition, here are the top five individual batting performances so far:

#5 Luke Pomersbach: 112* for Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades – 15th January 2013

Opener Luke Pomersbach lit up Perth with a brilliant unbeaten century to carry Brisbane Heat into the final of BBL02. Scoring 112 not out from 70 balls, Pomersbach was supported by Burns, Christian and Lynn as the Melbourne Renegades failed to stop the batter.

Scoring just two sixes and 15 fours, Pomersbach scored with a SR of 160.00. Even Muttiah Muralitharan found the Heat batter irresistible, with Pomersbach using an array of slog and reverse sweeps as scoring shots. Brisbane's season would be completed with a victory in the final.

#4 Ben McDermott : 114 for Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Renegades – 12th January 2017

Needing a win to stay in BBL06, Hobart Hurricanes found a hero in Ben McDermott. Son of Australian fast bowling great Craig, Ben McDermott produced a hitting masterclass of 114 from 52 balls at Docklands. McDermott's nine sixes and eight fours helped the Hurricanes to chase down the Melbourne Renegades' imposing total of 222.

Remarkably, McDermott's first five balls faced garnered just one run, before he started launching the ball to all corners of Etihad Stadium. It was a remarkable innings from the 22-year-old when you consider the fact that he had scored just 28 runs from his first 25 balls.

His acceleration from that point saw McDermott's strike rate increase to 318.51 as he plundered another 86 runs from 27 balls. James Pattinson, Brad Hogg and Thisara Perera all suffered at the hands of the young Queenslander.

#3 Jake Weatherald: 115 for Adelaide Strikers vs Hobart Hurricanes – 4th February 2018

What a way to win the BBL07 final! Jake Weatherald's 115 (70 balls), which was his first T20 century, helped Adelaide Strikers to an unreachable total. The innings consisted of eight sixes and nine fours as the Adelaide opener scored on his home ground at will. The bulk of the runs were scored with Travis Head, as the pair added 140 for the second wicket.

Weatherald added 95 of those runs, with the pull being his most productive shot. Having scored three half-centuries in his past four innings, Weatherald waited for the final before going big.

Quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald, Weatherald was modest in his post-match thoughts, "Performing in front of 40,000 people is an amazing feeling. I was super nervous before the game, didn't get much sleep the night before but thankfully everything came together and my plans worked well and I got through it and made a few runs."

#2 Luke Wright: 117 for Melbourne Stars vs Hobart Hurricanes – 9th January 2012

It was Luke Wright's night in Hobart. It was a cold evening at the Bellerive Oval but the English opener smashed 117 from 60 balls as he brought the heat for the Melbourne Stars.

"I felt pretty good in the last game but didn't go on, so I just wanted to try and carry on and hit the ball hard," was what Wright said as he reflected on his record-breaking innings. The Hurricanes did not play so well, as five catches went begging.

Wright's fifty came off 23 balls. His century required just another 21 balls. He ploughed nine sixes and eight fours to help the Stars to 203 from their 20 overs. His opening partnership with Rob Quiney yielded 172 runs, including smashing 22 off a Rhett Lockyear over. It was the third century of BBL01 and the most runs in an innings.

It remained the highest score in the BBL for six years.....

#1 D’Arcy Short: 122* for Hobart Hurricanes vs Brisbane Heat – 10th January 2018

A record-breaking innings from D'Arcy Short saw him single-handedly flay the Brisbane Heat bowlers. With no other Hurricanes batter passing 19, Short scored 68% of their total in his 69 ball innings. Short hit eight sixes and eight fours, with his fifty coming off 29 balls, and the century off 63. Brisbane Heat bowler Mark Steketee suffered at the hands of Short, as he saw three consecutive balls in his last over, and the last of the innings, disappear over the boundary for six.

Despite Short's heroics, the game was tightly poised until Heat's Alex Ross was controversially given out for obstructing the field. The home side lost momentum in the run chase and the Hurricanes finally got the win by three runs. Dan Christian's last over, against his previous BBL club, ensured that Short's explosive innings was not in vain.