The Sydney Thunder made astonishing cricket history when they were all out for 15 in the Big Bash League, the lowest total ever recorded in men's professional T20 cricket.

Friday's humbling at the Sydney Showground Stadium came at the hands of the Adelaide Strikers, who had briefly been concerned their 139-9 would come under threat.

Instead, it turned into a rout as the Thunder made a shocking start and failed to recover, with Brendan Doggett their top scorer with four runs, hitting the only boundary of the innings.

Doggett was the last man out as the home team were dismissed in 5.5 overs, with paceman Henry Thornton completing bowling figures of 5-3 in 2.5 overs. Fellow quick Wes Agar weighed in with 4-6 from two overs.

Thornton suggested he might as well retire on the back of his five-wicket feat in the 124-run victory, because he would never top the experience.

Speaking on beIN SPORTS, Thornton said: "I honestly cannot believe what just happened. Everyone here probably doesn't know what's going on either.

"It was amazing. We thought they bowled really well, considering what the wicket was doing, and we thought if we hung in there long enough we'd create chances.

"That's unbelievable. We thought if we bowled at the top of the stumps... we'd be in the game.

"We're really happy. I'm really happy for Wes, he bowled really well tonight, super disciplined, and yeah, great performance.

"Honestly, I'm shocked, I can't believe it."

Thunder openers Alex Hales and Matthew Gilkes both fell for ducks, and Thornton had been expecting middle-order batter Daniel Sams to be a threat with the bat, but he made only one run.

"They're an amazing team. Halesy is a great player and Samsy down the lower order as well," Thornton said. "We thought if we got to 150-plus we'd be in the game, and it was enough I guess.

"I feel like I need to retire now, I don't think I'm getting better than that. That was an amazing game of cricket, so I'm really happy, and the mood around the crew's great, so I couldn't be happier."

Team-mate Chris Lynn top-scored with 36 in Adelaide's innings, and Lynn was wearing the on-field TV microphone as the Sydney wickets tumbled.

"I suppose you just soak it all up," Lynn said at the end of the match.

"Fifteen! I don't know what to say. Everyone's looking, laughing and giggling away. We play them in a couple of days' time down in Adelaide. It's a momentum booster, but hopefully there'll be a few scars there and we can go back-to-back.

"I'm a bit sort of 'what's going on?'."

Sydney's score was 42 worse than the previous lowest in BBL history, the 57 record by the Melbourne Renegades against the Melbourne Stars in 2015.