We are playing do or die cricket in the Big Bash League from here on in and that all gets underway on Wednesday when the Sydney Thunder take on the Melbourne Stars in the Knockout with the Sydney Sixers awaiting the winners.
The equation is pretty simple now. The winner goes through to meet the Sixers at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday while the losers will be done for the season so we can expect the anticipation and competitiveness to ramp up a notch now.
Sydney Thunder
When you consider how abject the season was for the Sydney Thunder last term, this has already been a very good campaign for them just to make it to the playoffs. There would probably be a tinge of disappointment that they are in this match and wasn’t given two goes at making the final because they had a winner-takes-all showdown with the Sydney Sixers for second spot in the table on Friday which the rain scuppered, forcing them to come to terms with having to win three knockout games to win the title.
If that is going to happen then the Thunder need to ensure that their batting remains solid throughout. There is certainly enough with the ball in this squad, especially with the pitches beginning to tire and turn, but that won’t count for much if they can’t deliver with the bat. There is no Sam Konstas around anymore so as with most teams at this stage of the campaign, the Thunder are going to need to chop and change with regards to personnel.
Melbourne Stars
If the Melbourne Stars were to go on and win the competition from here and get their hands on the trophy for the first time in their history it would be quite something. Not only would they finally secure silverware at last but they would do it having lost their opening five matches in the season. At that point they needed to win their last five games and hope a whole number of results would go their way and even then they would only have a point total which wouldn’t have been enough to get in the top four last season.
Incredibly, they avoided all the rain that has done the rounds and they did win those last five and results combined to get them into this match and you wonder if they will approach it with a nothing to lose attitude having felt like this was a dream a fortnight or so ago. The one thing getting in at the back end like this has done is it has meant they have played pressure cricket for the entire second half of the competition and they have handled the intensity which simply has to bode well for them here.
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Key Players
David Warner has led by example with the bat for the Sydney Thunder this season and his team need an innings from him in the absence of Sam Konstas. He then needs to guide his troops well in the field in order to get the job done.
Glenn Maxwell has just caught fire in recent matches and his fireworks have given the Stars a chance at glory. His last three innings have been 58*, 90 and 76* and if he has another of those in this match then Melbourne will go close to the win.
Betting
I hope the Sydney Thunder win this match because they were my pick for the tournament before a ball was bowled, although I readily accept that I’ve been clinging on to hope by a thread since that collision between Daniel Sams and Cameron Bancroft which has denied them of two key cogs in the wheel. To be fair to the Thunder, they have managed to hold on for a place in the finals and I hope they win here. I’m not going to oppose them in the match outcome but there is one bet where I’m happy to.
That comes in the most sixes where we have to back Glenn Maxwell and friends to get the most in this match. It isn’t just him who can plough sixes. Marcus Stoinis and Hilton Cartwright can while even Tom Curran has a big ball in him. The longer this season has gone on the better the Melbourne Stars bowling has got too. No Thunder batter has more than six sixes in this competition this term which tells us that they are happy to accumulate runs rather than smash them. In contrast to that, Glenn Maxwell has 26 on his own and Marcus Stoinis has nine. There are bowlers in this Thunder attack who can go the distance and the Stars have enough to send them there.
Tips
Back Melbourne Stars Most 6s for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Betway
