In this article, we preview Sydney Thunder vs Adelaide Strikers, match 51 of the Big Bash League Season 10 at the Adelaide Oval on 24 January. Sydney Thunder are currently 2nd placed on the points table with six wins in 10 matches played, while Adelaide Strikers are four rungs below them, with five wins in 11 games.
Match Preview: What to Expect
Adelaide Strikers faced off against Melbourne Stars at Melbourne on 15 January. Stars batted first and scored 179/2. Strikers were bowled out for 68 in 14.2 overs to give Stars a facile 111-run win. Cameron Valente (1/36) and Danny Briggs (1/36) were the only bowlers to take wickets for Strikers. When they batted, they lost both openers for just 8 runs and never really recovered though a 36-run stand between Matt Renshaw (20) and Jonathan wells (18) raised hopes briefly. Jake Weatherald (10) was the only other batsman to reach double figures, in a disastrous batting performance.
In a derby versus Sydney Sixers at Canberra on 13 January, Thunder batted first and scored 166/6. Opener Alex Hales came to the party with 54 off 33, including 5 fours and 3 sixes. But Thunder saw the advantage slip away rapidly, as they lost wickets in a heap. But a late onslaught by Daniel Sims (50 off 37 balls, with four fours and a six) and his unbeaten partnership 44-run partnership with Nathan McAndrew (17 off 8 balls) helped them to seemingly competitive score. But a thunderstorm that ensued during the innings break made life much easier for Sixers with a revised target of 132 in 14 overs. Though Thunder grabbed five wickets, with Daniel Sims (2/25) their most successful bowler, they could not prevent Sixers from running away with a comfortable win with 8 balls to spare. Nathan McAndrew, Tanveer Sangha and Ben Cutting took a wicket each.
Despite their loss to Sixers, Sydney Thunder have been in excellent form this season and their cause has been helped by the good batting form displayed by Alex Hales (323 runs at 32.30 with a strike rate of 161.50 in his first 10 matches), and Callum Ferguson (247 runs at 27.44 with a strike rate of 118.18 from 10 games). Among their bowlers, Tanveer Sangha (16 wickets in 10 matches at an economy rate of 7.45 and a strike rate of 12.19) and Chris Green (12 wickets in 9 matches at an economy rate of 8.64 and a strike rate of 14.00) have done exceedingly well.
Alex Carey (280 runs at 31.11 with a strike rate of 119.66) and Jake Weatherald (253 runs at 31.63 with a strike rate of 138.25) have batted consistently for Adelaide Strikers. Their bowling has been spearheaded by Rashid Khan (15 wickets at an economy rate of 6.57 and a strike rate of 14.00) and Wes Agar (15 wickets at an economy rate of 8.06 and a strike rate of 15.13).
<Summary
The head to head comparison between the sides is dead even, with each side having won 6 out of 12 matches played. However, Strikers last won a match against Thunder in December 2018. Thunder will go into the match on 24 January with a decisive edge.
