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The 10th match of the eleventh edition of the Big Bash League will witness Sydney Thunder go head to head against Melbourne Stars in Sydney on Sunday evening.
After receiving a colossal hammering by 152 runs at the hands of Sydney Sixers in the first game, Melbourne Stars bounced back to open their account in the BBL 11. Batting first, the Stars posted 165/4 on the back of Nick Larkin’s 52, Hilton Cartwright’s 42 and a quickfire 17 by Andre Russell. They were behind the game for the most part while defending the target but pulled the plug in the death overs.
The Thunder needed 48 off the last six overs with eight wickets in hand but the equation came down to 11 off the last over. Zampa bowled a brilliant over to Alex Ross and Ben Cutting to take the team home. The Bash Boost point, however, went to the Thunder, who now have four points from two games.
Earlier, Sydney Thunder had defeated Brisbane Heat by seven wickets and they would be eager to get back to winning ways by levelling the season scoreline against the Stars on Sunday.
Key players
Marcus Stoinis has been one of the most prolific run-scorers in the Australian T20 arena. He has also done well down the order for Australia and in the IPL. He has 3600 runs to his name in the shortest format at an average of 32 while striking at 133, including one hundred and 19 fifties.
Batting at the top of the order in the BBL, Stoinis has amassed 2150 runs from 75 matches at an average of 37 and scoring rate of 132.
Sam Billings, who has improved as a batter by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years, has been a consistent performer in T20 cricket. He has scored nearly 3894 runs from 190 T20 innings at an average of 24 while striking at 130.
Billings is an excellent anchor who is competing against both spin and pace. The wicketkeeper batter has done well in the BBL, scoring 586 runs at an average of 33 and strike rate of 139. Billings has scored 36-ball 44* and 31-ball 43 in the last two games.
Nathan Coulter-Nile is a vastly experienced T20 player and has performed very well. Despite dropping pace in recent years, the right-arm pacer bowls a heavy ball into the pitch and can be a difficult challenge with his change-ups.
NCN has 163 wickets in the T20 format at an economy of 7.72, including four four-fors. Coulter-Nile was excellent in the last game against the Thunder, claiming 2 for 27 in his four.
Andre Russell is arguably the biggest asset a team can have in T20 cricket. An explosive power-hitter who can also bowl 140+ kmph, Dre Russ can change the complexion of the game single-handedly. He has scored nearly 6500 runs in the format at a strike rate of 170 while averaging 26.
He also has claimed 343 wickets with the ball, albeit at a higher economy. Playing his first BBL match in five years, Russell scored 17 off 9 to take the team past 160. Although he conceded at 10 rpo, expect him to find his rhythm quickly.
Tanveer Sangha, a promising youngster, is on the rise in his career with some impactful performances. The 20-year-old leg-spinner was outstanding in the last BBL season, picking 21 wickets in 15 games at an economy of just over 8. Tanveer claimed 2 for 29 in his four overs in the last game, including cleaning up Glenn Maxwell. Expect him to play a crucial role in this return fixture as well.
Prediction
The Stars and Thunder have a pretty tight head to head record, with the former leading the scoreline by 9-7. However, in the last seven contests, the Stars have dominated with six victories.
Sydney Thunder have a strong unit despite losing Usman Khawaja to the Ashes and Saqib Mahmood to England Lions duties. The batting unit is extremely good, with Hales, Sam Billings, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting and Daniel Sams complementing well. Sams, Gurinder Sandhu and Nathan McAndrew have handled the pace unit well, while Chris Green and Tanvir Sangha have done well in the spin department.
Melbourne Stars were plagued with injuries, especially their bowling unit, losing Billy Stanlake and Liam Thatcher. Captain Glenn Maxwell’s form could be a concern for the team. But they have received a shot in the arm with Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile coming back into the team and the new signing of Andre Russell. Expect them to do a double on the Thunder at Sydney.
