Australian T20 League 2022-23

Match 34: THU vs SIX

Preview

Thunders and Sixers will lock horns in match number 34 of the Australian T20 League 2022 at the Sydney Showground Stadium on Sunday, January 8. Sixers secured a clinical 6 wicket win in their last encounter against the Stars. James Vince scored an unbeaten 91 to take his side home. Thunders on the other hand pip Scorchers by six wickets in match number 29. Ollie Davies and Alex Ross were the chief architects of the successful run chase. 

After a disastrous start to their campaign, Thunders have seemed to get it back on track. They are on an incredible four match winning streak and will thus be keen to continue their dream run in the tournament. With 5 wins in 8 matches, the men in green are currently placed at third in the league standings. Their batting department has been majorly responsible for their remarkable turnaround. Alex Hales and Matthew Gilkes have done reasonably well at the top of the order, Rilee Roussouw at three has done well in patches then they have Ollie Davies and Alex Ross at four and five who have made valuable contributions down the order. The addition of Ben Cutting to the squad has bolstered their batting prowess even more. In the bowling department, Thunders have the likes of Brendon Dogget, Nathan McAndrew and Usman Qadir. 

Alike, Thunders, the reigning champions also made a woeful start to their campaign but have managed to bounce back in an exceptional manner. They are currently positioned at the top of the table with 5 wins in 9 matches. Batting has been their strong suit and it has been evident with the way they have performed in the last few games. While they successfully chased down 173 in their previous clash against the Stars, they almost got over the line hunting a gigantic total of 224 versus Brisbane. Their bowling prowess however lacks teeth. Apart from Sean Abott and Steve O'Keefe, no other bowler has been able to perform on a consistent basis. Ahead of this key encounter, they will need to sort out their bowling combination. 

Match Details

Match: THU vs SIX, 34th Match, Aus T20 League 2022-23

Date: Sunday, January 08, 2023

Time: 1:45 PM

Venue: Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney

Pitch and Weather Report

The Sydney Showground Stadium track has always favoured bowlers. This venue is very helpful to seamers. From 30 T20 matches played here, the average first innings score is 150. This Aus T20 League season, two matches were played here, with the side batting first scoring 139/9 and 121/6.

Sydney has seen a lot of rain this week, but the weather is expected to clear up over the weekend. There should be no heavy clouds on Sunday evening, and the temperature should be approximately around the range of 18°C.

Form Guide

THU: L W W W W

SIX: W W L NR W

Head to Head

Teams        Matches Won 

THU               7

SIX                14

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

SIX:Josh Philippe (wk), James Vince, Daniel Hughes, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Daniel Christian, Hayden Kerr, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Chris Jordan, Steve O'Keefe, Jackson Bird, Izharulhaq Naveed, Jack Edwards, Todd Murphy, Kurtis Patterson

Probable Playing XIs 

THU: Alex Hales, Matthew Gilkes (wk), Joel Davies, Oliver Davies, Daniel Sams, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green (c), Brendan Doggett, Usman Qadir

SIX: Josh Philippe (wk), James Vince, Daniel Hughes, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Daniel Christian, Hayden Kerr, Sean Abbott, Chris Jordan, Todd Murphy, Izharulhaq Naveed

Hot Fantasy Picks

(i) Wicket Keeper

Josh Philippe: The wicket keeper has struggled off late. He hasn’t been able to get going in the last few matches but the dasher is a man for big occasions, and you cannot ask for a more enticing battle than the Sydney derby. We back the pocket dynamite to get a few runs in this match.  

(ii) Batsmen 

Alex Hales: Only three players have hit more runs in the tournament than Alex Hales, who has now reached 50 on three occasions.

Ollie Davies: The 22-year-old batter is quickly establishing a solid reputation in this format, having hit half-centuries in each of his past two innings.

James Vince: James Vince has steadily scored runs in recent games following a sluggish start to the season. Only Matthew Short and Chris Lynn have scored more runs in the competition than him. 

(iii) All Rounders 

Sean Abott: In the Aus T20 League 2022-23, the right-arm bowling all-rounder had 13 dismissals. His performance against the Stars was his finest in the league.

(iv) Bowlers 

Nathan McAndrew: The right-arm medium fast bowler has a strike rate of 9.7 in the competition and dismissed the dangerous Ashton Turner, who was looking to run away with the game in the previous encounter. 

Brendon Dogget: Doggett has five wickets in his previous two outings. Expect him to continue his dominant run in the Sydney derby. 

Match Prediction

The Sixers have only lost one of their past seven games in the Aus T20 League this season, propelling them to the top of the standings. We fancy them to win this encounter. 

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