The Strikers travel to Canberra knowing victory will see them seal a spot in this season's finals
All you need to know: Sydney Thunder v Adelaide Strikers
Match facts
Who: Sydney Thunder v Adelaide Strikers
What: Match 37, BBL|13
Where: Manuka Oval, Canberra
When: Sunday, January 14. Bat flip at 6.30pm local AEDT, first ball at 7.15pm AEDT
How to watch: Channel Seven, 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: Paul Wilson (field), Simon Lightbody (field), Sharad Patel (third), David Taylor (fourth), Simon Fry (match referee)
Match squads
Thunder: Cameron Bancroft, Ollie Davies, Liam Doddrell, Matthew Gilkes, Toby Gray, Chris Green (c), Alex Hales, Liam Hatcher, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner
Strikers: Wes Agar, James Bazley, Cameron Boyce, Brendan Doggett, Adam Hose, Thomas Kelly, Chris Lynn, Ben Manenti, Harry Nielsen (wk), Jamie Overton, David Payne, Lloyd Pope, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Short (c), Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald
Form guide
Thunder: WLLLL (most recent first)
The Thunder's confidence has suffered a hit in recent weeks, suffering four defeats in which they've failed to push their opponent deep. With two games to go in KFC BBL|13, their best possible finish would be sixth, meaning they will miss the finals for the first time since 2018-19. Victory here, however, would see them have a huge say on the outcome of the top four.
Strikers: LLWWW
The Strikers have hit form at the right time, winning three on the bounce including back-to-back victories over the Hurricanes. After a wobbly start to their BBL|13 campaign that wasn't helped by bad weather, Adelaide have hit their straps. And with the Stars going down to the Renegades in Saturday night's Melbourne Derby, the equation is simple heading into this one: win, and Matt Short's side are in the finals.
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
Who else but Matt Short? The Strikers skipper continues to dominate BBL|13, peeling off 435 runs in eight knocks. To put that into context, Short's runs tally is 131 more than the next-best player (teammate Chris Lynn). He has scored less than 39 on just one occasion this season, underlining his consistency at the top of the order.
Jake Weatherald starred in the absence of Lynn in Thursday's win against the Hurricanes, smashing an incredible unbeaten 80 off just 32 balls in Hobart. Despite having scored just 11 runs in three innings this season prior to the match, Weatherald showed his bit-hitting prowess in one of the season's most devastating knocks. He looms as key should Lynn - who missed the match due to a hamstring complaint - fail to prove his fitness.
Alex Hales is beginning to find some form in BBL|13, having followed up a blistering 72 with a fast-starting 28 in the Thunder's Sydney Smash defeat to the Sixers on Friday night. The Big Bash's highest ever international run-scorer, Hales (11 sixes) has cleared the fence almost double the number of the next-best Thunder batter (Alex Ross, six) this season.
Head-to-head
Overall: Thunder (9 wins), Strikers (11 wins), No Result (2)
At Manuka Oval: (1 No Result)
Most runs: Jake Weatherald (324), Alex Carey (283), Matt Short (258), Alex Hales (258), Usman Khawaja (256)
Most wickets: Peter Siddle (19), Daniel Sams (18), Rashid Khan (12), Michael Neser (11), Gurinder Sandhu (10)
The venue
Rapid stats
- The Strikers have won their last four BBL matches against the Thunder.
- The Thunder have lost their last four BBL matches; the last and only time they recorded a longer losing run in the competition was a 19-match span from December 2011 to January 2014.
- Matt Short (Strikers) has faced 35.3 balls per innings this season, more than any other player in the competition (minimum two innings).
- Alex Hales (Thunder) has scored 75 per cent of his 215 runs from boundaries this season, the second-best rate (minimum 100 runs scored) of any player in the competition (Glenn Maxwell; 77 per cent of 211 runs).
What's on the line?
A lot, for the Adelaide Strikers. Victory would see them seal a return to the Big Bash finals after last year's disappointing seventh-place finish. Defeat, however, would see the Strikers relying on the Stars losing their home match on Monday night against the Hurricanes to progress. Adelaide's fate is currently in their own hands, but a loss here would make for a nervous Monday evening in front of the TV.
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