Australian T20 League 2022 

Match 22- THU vs HUR

Preview 

Thunders and Hurricanes will square off in match number 22 of the Australian T20 League 2022 at the Lavington Sports Oval, Albury on Saturday, December 31. Thunders have made some progress after losing three consecutive games, with a double over Brisbane. They thrashed the men in blue by 10 wickets in the first game and won by 11 runs in the second. They now have six points after three wins and as many losses.

With Alex Ross and Daniel Sams having some early runs in the last game, the Thunder will be relieved. Their top order is also gaining some traction. Having said that, the batting unit appears to be a little light. Gurinder Sandhu only bowled one over on Thursday, raising the possibility of an injury. For this game, the Thunder might bring in Ben Cutting.

Hurricanes have played four games this season, winning two and losing two. They have lost against Stars and Sixers while winning against the Scorchers and Renegades. They are coming off an eight-run win over the Gades in a low-scoring game in which Riley Meredith and Shadab Khan delivered. 

The bowling attack of Meredith, Shadab, Nathan Ellis, Joel Paris, and Patrick Dooley is the Hurricanes' most valuable asset. They have a strong batting lineup that includes Ben McDermott, Matthew Wade, D'Arcy Short, Tim David, and Jimmy Neesham. McDermott and Wade were yanked from the starting lineup for the previous game at the final minute. They have had enough gap between the games to recover and are likely to be back.

Match Details

Match: THU vs HUR, 22nd Match, Aus T20 League 2022-23

Date: December 31, 2022

Time: 10:00 AM

Venue: Lavington Sports Oval, Albury

Pitch and Weather Report

Thunder has never played a senior men's T20 match at Albury's Lavington Sports Oval, and just one women's T20 match has been played here. As a result, we don't have enough data to base our decision on for this venue. However, the prevailing trend in this Aus T20 league has been that bowlers have had significantly greater success than in prior seasons.

In terms of weather, Sydney may witness a few showers in the morning. However, it should be gone by the afternoon, when the game is played. The afternoon has a 25% probability of precipitation and a temperature of approximately 25°C.

Form Guide

THU: LLLWW

HUR: LLWLW 

Head to Head

Team             Matches Won 

THU                  7 

HUR                 10

Squads

THU: Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner, David Willey (withdrawn), Fazalhaq Farooqi (replacing David Willey, first nine matches only), Ben Cutting, Usman Qadir, Gurinder Sandhu

HUR:  Ben McDermott, Caleb Jewell, D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade(w/c), Tim David, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, James Neesham, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith, Joel Paris, Patrick Dooley, Chris Tremain

Probable Playing XIs

THU: Matthew Gilkes (wk), Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, Oliver Davies, Daniel Sams, Alex Ross, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green (c), Gurinder Sandhu, Brendan Doggett, Usman Qadir

HUR: D’Arcy Short, Ben McDermott, Matthew Wade (wk), Shadab Khan, Tim David, James Neesham, Asif Ali, Joel Paris, Nathan Ellis (c), Patrick Dooley, Riley Meredith

Hot Fantasy Picks

Wicket Keeper

Matthew Gilkes- Gilkes has started to show promise after a disastrous start to the 2022 campaign. In the last game the wicket keeper batter scored a well compiled 37 and provided stability to the Hurricanes batting. Prior to that, the dashing opener smashed a destructive half century to power his side home. 

Batters

Alex Hales- Despite missing out in the last game, we fancy the English swashbuckler to do well in this game. He has done well in patches in this competition but hasn’t been able to contribute on a consistent basis. He alongside Gilkes at the top of the order will have the onus to provide Hurricanes a flying start. 

Ben McDermott-  Mcdermott has struggled to find his rhythm in the tournament. He has looked scratchy and all over the place but he has the potential to turn things around. One good innings is all it takes to return to form. Expect the Aussie cricketer to come good in this match. 

All Rounders

Daniel Sams- The 30 year old all rounder has been at the centre of all good things for Thunders this season. With 11 wickets in 6 matches, he is currently the third leading wicket taker in this competition. Besides, he adds immense value with his power hitting down the order. 

Shadab Khan- The man from Pakistan can do it all. He has majorly contributed with ball in hand this year thus far but can also prove beneficial with the bat in hand down the order. With 7 wickets in 4 matches, the 24 year old is amongst the leading wicket takers in this competition. 

Bowlers

Riley Meridith- He is fast, accurate and has the ability to surprise opposition batters with his pace deceptions. Meredith is coming on the back of a match winning spell against Renegades in the last game. We fancy the speedster to continue from where he left in the previous clash. 

Patrick Dooley- The addition of Dooley to this Hurricanes side has certainly bolstered their bowling attack. He has already taken 9 wickets in just 4 matches and we back him to put up yet another stellar show in this game. 

Match Prediction

The two teams are in the bottom half of the points table and will need to get a few wins quickly to compete for the top slots. The Thunders have won three of the past five meetings between the two teams, although the Hurricanes lead the head to head battle by 10-7. Both sides are coming off wins, but the Hurricanes hold the advantage because of their bowling prowess. It is one of the top two bowling attacks in the competition in terms of potential and performance. Also Thunder's batting lineup lacks depth and is prone to collapses. We predict the Hurricanes to win this match on Saturday.

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