A close league stage
The sixth season ran from 20 December 2016 to 28 January 2017 in the format used since 2012-13: thirty-two league matches, eight per side, and a four-team knockout. It was the tightest league stage the competition had produced. Three sides finished on five wins, two on four and three on three, and the last semi-final place was settled on net run rate.
Perth Scorchers finished first, Brisbane Heat second and Sydney Sixers third, all on five wins from eight. Melbourne Stars took fourth ahead of Melbourne Renegades on the same record.
Etihad Stadium, 12 January
The match of the season was played at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. Melbourne Renegades made 222 for 4, at that point the highest total in Big Bash League history. Hobart Hurricanes then chased it, reaching 223 for 8 with two wickets standing, Ben McDermott making 114 from 52 balls. The combined 445 runs remained the highest aggregate in a Big Bash League match for some years, and the crowd of 44,189 was the largest recorded for cricket at the ground.
Elsewhere the bowling produced the season's other extremes. Ish Sodhi took 6 for 11 for Adelaide Strikers against Sydney Thunder, who were bowled out for 101; Sean Abbott took 5 for 16 and Daniel Christian 5 for 14; Andrew Tye took a hat-trick for Perth. Abbott finished with 20 wickets, the most anyone had taken in a Big Bash League season to that point. Ben Dunk, having moved from Hobart to Adelaide, led the run-scoring with 364, and Chris Lynn was named player of the tournament for the second successive year.
Semi-finals
Perth Scorchers beat Melbourne Stars by seven wickets at the WACA Ground, chasing 137 with 19 balls to spare; Mitchell Johnson took the match award. The second semi-final at the Gabba the next night finished level: Brisbane Heat made 167 for 9, Sydney Sixers 167 for 8, and the Super Over went to the Sixers. Moises Henriques, who had been player of the match in the 2011-12 final, took the award again.
The final
Sydney Sixers were bowled out for 141 at the WACA Ground on 28 January. Perth Scorchers reached 144 for 1 in 15.5 overs, Michael Klinger unbeaten on 71. Jhye Richardson, then 20 and in his first season, took 3 for 30 and was named player of the match. Perth thus won a third title in four years and became the competition's first three-time champions.
The end of an era at the WACA
The 2016-17 final was the last decider played at the WACA Ground. Perth's home matches moved to Optus Stadium during 2017-18, and the old ground's small square boundaries, which had shaped several Scorchers campaigns, went out of the competition with it.