The Big Bash League season comes to a close on Monday when the final of the competition takes place at Ninja Stadium where the Hobart Hurricanes face off against the Sydney Thunder for the Australian T20 title.
The Hurricanes have never won this tournament but will host the final looking to end that record while the Thunder will be looking to complete a remarkable turnaround from finishing bottom last season to win the trophy this term.
Hobart Hurricanes
When the Hobart Hurricanes were rolled for 74 in their opening match of the season, had you said to anyone that they would be in the final a month or so later I would imagine most judges would have laughed at you but that is exactly what has happened. Credit must go to the Hurricanes for not panicking and believing in what they were doing to not only finish top of the table but then make it through to this final at the first time of asking, giving them maximum preparation time for this match.
Generally the strength of this Hobart Hurricanes side has been their bowling unit. No team has really gotten away from them in this competition this term and that has taken the pressure off of their batting. I still maintain that they are a batter light in this order but someone has already stood up and ensured that their team has had enough runs since that opening game. They will be hoping a couple of batters get the job done for them here.
Sydney Thunder
Credit has to go to the Sydney Thunder whatever happens in this final. They were bottom of the pile a year ago with one win in their 10 matches and now they have finished third and have won two knockout matches in the last few days to secure their spot in this title showdown. I think most expected them to get the better of the Melbourne Stars on home soil but to go to the Sydney Cricket Ground and knock off the Sydney Sixers was less fancied.
The Thunder have overcome a lot of difficulties this season. Their gun opening batter was taken away unexpectedly by Australia a week into the tournament and then they lost two more key players in that horrific collision between Daniel Sams and Cameron Bancroft and then the Sydney weather threatened to derail them to. Having come through all of that and held their nerve in two do or die matches, the Thunder head to Hobart knowing that they can handle the pressure at the very least.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the tournament (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Key Players
Mitch Owen is the third highest run scorer in the competition this season and he has become a bit of a feature in the bowling department the longer the event has gone on too. He has the batting destructive power to take the game away from the Thunder.
David Warner is the top scorer in the tournament and 88 of his 357 runs came on this ground in the only meeting between these two sides which took place in the regular season. The Sydney Thunder would love another innings like that.
Betting
Those who have followed our Big Bash League bets this season will be sitting with a betting slip for the Sydney Thunder to win this match at 15/2 having backed them before a ball was bowled and with the each way money in the bank securing a profit on the bet it makes perfect sense to let that bet ride, not least because we know the Thunder can handle the knockout pressure and we are yet to see whether the Hobart Hurricanes can. I will go with one bet for the final though.
That comes in the form of the sixes here the line is at 10.5 or 12.5 depending on where you shop and the latter looks too high to me. This is a high pressure final where winning is the only aim not run rates or how quick it is won or anything and these two attacks are decent enough. There have been six matches on this ground this season with the sixes coming in at eight, eight, 16, nine (between these two), 11 and 10 so the under has landed in five out of six matches. Sydney Thunder aren’t the biggest six hitting team and Hobart aren’t easy to smoke anyway. With the pressure the batters are under here I don’t expect to see more than a dozen sixes.
Tips
Back Under 12.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
