The Big Bash returns to Albury once again in KFC BBL|13 as the Stars host the Thunder at Lavington Sports Ground
All you need to know: Melbourne Stars v Sydney Thunder
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Stars v Sydney Thunder
What: Match 12, BBL|13
Where: Lavington Sports Ground, Albury
When: Saturday, December 23. Bat flip at 2.45pm AEDT, first ball at 3.30pm AEDT
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps
Officials: Greg Davidson (field), Bruce Oxenford (field), Ben Treloar (third), David Taylor (fourth), Bob Parry (match referee)
Match squads
Stars: Glenn Maxwell (c), Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Liam Dawson (England), Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Nick Larkin, Jono Merlo, Usama Mir (Pakistan), Joel Paris, Haris Rauf (Pakistan), Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster
Thunder: Cameron Bancroft, Ollie Davies, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green (c), Alex Hales (England), Liam Hatcher, Zaman Khan (Pakistan), Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, William Salzmann, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha
Form guide
Stars: LLLLL (most recent first)
Have won just one of their 10 BBL matches in 2023. They've been bowled out for 111 and 101 so far this season and need to turn their form around quickly otherwise this season will end up just like the last.
Thunder: LLLWL
Just couldn't hold off the Strikers in their last match after a strong batting effort saw them post 7-200 at Adelaide Oval. Two straight losses to start BBL|13 is far from ideal but there's been plenty of positives for the Thunder so far and they'll be hoping to put a complete performance together against the bottom-placed Stars.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Players to watch
A huge boost for the Stars with Glenn Maxwell back in the fold after missing their loss to the Scorchers with a torn forearm muscle. The superstar allrounder is the Stars' heart and soul and will be eager to transfer some of his international form for Australia into the Big Bash. Hit the ball as crisp as ever in the season opener against the Heat before picking out the fielder on the boundary with a reverse sweep. Maxwell is one of two additions to the Stars' squad for their trip to Albury alongside Joe Burns.
In just his second innings for the Thunder, Cameron Bancroft proved exactly why he was chased by as many as six clubs during the off-season. A swift 74 from 54 balls set the platform for the Thunder's 7-200 against the Strikers. The right-hander has 456 runs at 50.67 in his last 13 innings and could be the barometer for how the Thunder fare this season. Batter Jason Sangha returns to the Thunder squad after overcoming a wrist injury suffered at training prior to the season.
Head-to-head
Overall: Stars (10 wins), Thunder (9 wins)
At Lavington Sports Ground: Never played. Sydney Thunder beat Hobart Hurricanes by 62 runs in the first BBL match at the venue last season.
Most runs: Marcus Stoinis (411), Usman Khawaja (350), Nick Larkin (326), Kevin Pietersen (289), Glenn Maxwell (277)
Most wickets: Adam Zampa (22), Chris Green (16), Daniel Sams (14), Haris Rauf (9), John Hastings (9)
The venue
Rapid stats
- Sydney Thunder have won their last two BBL games against the Melbourne Stars after winning only one of their previous eight meetings. The Thunder have won only one of their five matches against the Stars in NSW in the history of the competition.
- Melbourne Stars are on a six-game losing streak in the BBL. The last and only previous time they lost more consecutive games in the competition was an eight-game stretch from January 2017 to January 2018.
- Sydney Thunder are 152 shy of reaching 20,000 runs scored in the BBL and should they reach it in this innings, that would leave the Melbourne Renegades as the only team yet to reach the mark in the competition.
- Melbourne Stars have had a team batting average below 20 runs in each of their last three BBL innings – including an average of 17 in their last innings against the Sydney Thunder – after finishing below an average of 20 in only one of their six games prior.
- Cameron Bancroft (Sydney Thunder) has scored three half centuries across his last five BBL innings including a 74-run knock in his last appearance. But his batting strike rate against the Melbourne Stars (107.8) is his lowest against any team in the competition.
What's on the line?
Both sides are chasing their first win in BBL|13 and victory would lift the Stars off the bottom of the standings, where they have been anchored for the last year. A win for either team would put them into fifth and keep them in touch with the top four.
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