As is tradition in the Big Bash League, the last game of the year will be played at the Adelaide Oval as the Adelaide Strikers take on the Sydney Thunder in the annual New Year’s Eve showdown in what is an important match in the competition.
The Strikers have not come out of the traps very well so they will be hoping that this showcase occasion brings out their best cricket. The Thunder are looking for some consistency which will guarantee them a place in the final five.
Adelaide Strikers
The Adelaide Strikers have won just one of their opening six matches so they need to start putting wins together in order to get themselves back in the race for the playoffs. Another loss here could see them being cut adrift of the pack at what would be the halfway mark of their season. That isn’t a scenario anyone will want so I would imagine there will be a huge emphasis on playing their best cricket in this match and giving themselves the best chance to win.
The big problem that the Strikers have is everyone knew their batting was a weak link for them this season and they had to rely on their bowling attack if they were going to win matches this season but in three of the last four matches that unit have gone around the park, conceding 195/1, 208/7 and 176/3 which was heading towards 200 given that there were nine balls left when the target was achieved. You’d give the Strikers very little chance of winning matches if their bowling keeps getting flogged.
Sydney Thunder
It has been an up and down campaign for the Sydney Thunder so far. They have won three and lost three and are still looking to win back-to-back matches for the first time this term. They could achieve that here though because they head south off the back of being the first and only team to beat the Perth Scorchers this season. They were emphatic in that win too so they will be looking to replicate that level of performance and if they can do that they would have every chance of coming out on top here.
I mentioned ahead of the clash with the Scorchers that when the Thunder are good they are very good but when they are not quite on it they leave themselves open to be beaten and they need to make sure their poor stuff is a better level than it currently is. A win here would move the Thunder into positive for their overall ledger for this term and would give them a platform to kick on and challenge for the title once again.
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Team News
Adelaide Strikers haven’t confirmed their squad ahead of this match but we know they will be without Alex Carey and Travis Head who are still in the Australia bubble. Peter Siddle is expected to feature despite his form suggesting he has been carrying an injury.
Sydney Thunder still have no Usman Khawaja available for this match as he is also in that Australia bubble. Chris Tremain misses out with injury but you would imagine the Thunder will be picking the same XI after a convincing win last time out.
Betting
I like the look of the Sydney Thunder boundaries in this match. The line is at 18.5 and on these square boundaries being as short as they are I expect that to be covered. The Adelaide bowlers have suddenly started getting carted. They shipped 31 boundaries in the last match on this ground against the Brisbane Heat and then surrendered another 23 in Hobart last time out so this is a unit which is struggling to stem the flow of big hits at the minute.
Sydney come into this match off the back of scoring 200 against the Perth Scorchers and prior to that they belted a bunch of boundaries against the Brisbane Heat. Usually I would be concerned that Adelaide would bat first and not put enough runs on the board but I think we’ll see the best version of the Strikers here on an occasion such as this. Even then, Adelaide didn’t make 120 here last year and Sydney hit 14 boundaries in the 12 overs it took them to chase it down so we won’t need a huge score should Adelaide bat first. I expect Sydney to clear 18.5 boundaries in this one.
Tips
Back Sydney Thunder – Over 18.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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