The term chalk and cheese would be perfectly suited to the Sydney Thunder. They went from champions to propping up the rest of the table and so they will be looking for a marked improvement over the course of this campaign. Often their start to a season dictates how it will pans out.
Stats
Last Season: 8th
Captain: Shane Watson
Overseas Players: Jos Buttler & Mitchell McClenaghan
Key Player: Shane Watson
Best Odds: 12/1 Paddy Power & Betfair
Predicted Finishing Position: 7th
Fixtures
Tuesday December 19 – Sydney Sixers (h)
Friday December 22 – Adelaide Strikers (a)
Wednesday December 27 – Brisbane Heat (a)
Saturday December 30 – Hobart Hurricanes (a)
Monday January 1 – Hobart Hurricanes (h)
Sunday January 7 – Adelaide Strikers (h)
Thursday January 11 – Perth Scorchers (h)
Saturday January 13 – Sydney Sixers (a)
Saturday January 20 – Melbourne Stars (a)
Wednesday January 24 – Melbourne Renegades (h)
Preview
Players In – Jos Buttler, Andrew Fekete, Mitchell McClenaghan, Callum Ferguson
Players Out – Carlos Brathwaite, Jake Doran, Alister McDermott, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, James Vince
In order to boost their fortunes there has been a significant turnover of players at the Sydney Thunder but their hopes will be hampered by the international call ups of Usman Khawaja and Pat Cummins. While the likes of Jos Buttler is a good signing he is only around for the first half of the campaign.
One of the issues the Thunder has is their home ground is hard to defend so they need to get lucky with tosses. A lack of bowling depth has gone against them in the past too. You get the feeling that the Thunder will need all of their big stars to perform if they are to get back to the postseason.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
The Thunder are one of those sides who will have players coming and going which makes betting on their markets more difficult but there is one bet that I like which comes in the form of their top tournament bowler.
Mitchell McClenaghan is probably the most likely bowler to take the most wickets for the Thunder this season but at eight times the price I can’t ignore Shane Watson. Watson missed two of the Thunder’s matches last season but was still only two wickets short of being the leading wicket taker so 16/1 on the captain looks too big especially were anything to happen to the Kiwi. I would imagine Watson will find it in himself to bowl in the pressure moments so 16/1 could be huge.
Tips
Back S.Watson Top Sydney Thunder Tournament Bowler for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
