The second of Saturday Twenty20 Big Bash Round 6 matches is between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder. The game is set to commence at 19:40pm with the game to be played at Blundstone Arena. Home team Hobart Hurricanes go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder.
When: 19:40 | Saturday 11/01/2014
Where: Blundstone Arena
Hobart Hurricanes $1.56 vs Sydney Thunder $2.39 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Hobart Hurricanes $1.54 vs Sydney Thunder $2.50 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison:
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| Hobart Hurricanes | 1.56 | 1.53 | 1.54 | 1.53 | 1.56 | 1.55 |
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Sydney Thunder
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2.39 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 2.39 | 2.45 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
Sydney Thunders Squad
Michael Clarke(C), Sean Abbott, Azhar Mahmood, Cameron Borgas, Ryan Carters(w), Mark Cosgrove, Adam Coyte, Scott Coyte, Luke Doran, Chris Gayle, Adam Zampa, Martin Guptill, Usman Khawaja, Matt Prior, Rhett Lockyear, Chris Rogers, Simon Keen, Jason Floros,Daniel Hughes, Mike Hussey, Dirk Nannes, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain
Preview:
Overview
Round 6 of the KFC T20 Big Bash League kicks off with the third double-header of the competition, starting with the Hobart Hurricanes hosting the Sydney Thunder. Hobart are desperate to keep touch with the middle group of teams – only three points separate the Hurricanes in 7th place, and Perth in 2nd – while the luckless Thunder are just as desperate to end this losing streak that haunts them wherever they turn up to play.
For the Hurricanes, the compressed nature of the middle six teams on the table means they can jump as high as 4th with a win in this match, while for the Thunder, with five losses already in BBL|03, there really isn’t a lot left to play for other than pride and forward planning for BBL|04.
Hobart will be without spinner Xavier Doherty, called up to the Australian one-day squad, while George Bailey also remains on national duty. The Thunder will still be without Michael Clarke and David Warner for the same reason.
The Thunder will also be without a strike weapon, with Sri Lankan star import Tillakaratne Dilshan failing a fitness test on his back in Sydney. He is hopeful of being fit for the Thunder’s match against the Renegades in Melbourne on Tuesday, but will be replaced in the squad for this match by ACT leg-spinning all-rounder, Blake Dean.
Key Battle: Owais Shah v Mike Hussey
The two middle-order batting lynchpins are so crucial to the totals their respective sides can set, or chase, for that matter, and it’s why they’re both such a key wicket for opposition sides. Both Shah and Hussey were the sixth wicket down in their side’s last match, proving to be the last chance at a successful run chase, too. Their experience around younger players is just so important, and so to get them out of the way automatically improves a team’s chances of winning.
Dark Horse: Jon Wells
Wells has been making invaluable lower order contributions for Hobart this year, and with little or no fanfare, he sits second on the Hurricanes batting averages for BBL|03. More impressively, he’s currently striking at 150 runs per 100 balls faced; a mark equalled by noted lower order master blaster, Ben Hilfenhaus. That ability to come in late in games, and score at an accelerated rate from ball one is worth its weight in gold, and is something the Thunder will have to keep in mind late in their bowling innings.
Last Time
December 23, 2012 @ Blundstone Arena: A 111-run opening stand from former Australian Captain Ricky Ponting and former Australian ‘keeper Tim Paine looked to be setting Hobart up for a big total. The reintroduction of young leggie, Adam Zampa, brought a halt to proceedings though, taking 3/8 in the space of ten balls. Owais Shah and George Bailey added some late-order respectability, with their unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 54 from 26 balls seeing the Hurricanes to 4/177.
It was the same old, same old story for the Thunder in reply, though. Regular wickets, and no-one going on with starts made the chase harder that it ought to have been, and when Xavier Doherty took the only hat-trick in BBL history, all Thunder chances were extinguished. Ricky Ponting taking his only career T20 wicket was the final nail, and the Thunder went down by 30 runs.
Squads
Hurricanes: Tim Paine (c), Travis Birt, Aiden Blizzard, Doug Bollinger, Cameron Boyce, Joe Mennie, Ben Dunk, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Shoaib Malik, Owais Shah, Jon Wells
Thunder: Michael Hussey (c), Cameron Borgas, Ryan Carters, Blake Dean, Jason Floros, Daniel Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Ajantha Mendis, Dirk Nannes, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain, Andrew Tye.
Facts and Figures
In the last meeting between these two teams, Xavier Doherty took the first and only hat-trick in BBL history, with the wickets of Simon Keen, Ryan Carters, and Cameron Borgas. Current Renegade, Nathan Rimmington, took a hat-trick in the old state-based Big Bash, as did ex-Tasmanian and Australian quick, Brett Geeves, and Pakistan international turned Hobart cult hero, Rana Naved.
Thunder have got immediate value out of their off-season coup of signing Mike Hussey, with the former Australian great the second-leading run-scorer for BBL|03. Hussey has 226 runs to his name, at an average of 45.2 and a SR of 134.5, and is equal with Renegades Captain Aaron Finch with the most fifties of the tournament. Moreover, with Finch now also on national duty, another 50 in this match would see Mr Cricket jump to the top of the runs tally.
Neither team have had much success clearing the rope this season, with the Thunder hitting 19 sixes for the tournament – even playing at ANZ Stadium, with the shortest straight boundaries in the competition – and the Hurricanes faring even worse, hitting just 12 sixes.
Broadcast: from 1:30pm AEDT on Channel Ten, and on Fairfax Radio Network.
Source: www.bigbash.com.au
