The Sydney Thunder kick-start their BBL campaign against the Brisbane Heat at Manuka Oval tonight.
Match details
Sydney Thunder vs Brisbane Heat
Monday 6 December, 7.15pm
Manuka Oval, Canberra ACT
Weather: Max 22, Cloudy, 30% chance of rain, 0 to 1mm
The game will be broadcast on Channel Seven, Fox Sports and Kayo.
Head-to-head record: Thunder 3 wins vs Heat 10 wins.
Squads for BBL 2021/22 and key players
Sydney Thunder
Sam Billings, Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Usman Khawaja, Saqib Mahmood, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain
The Thunder will be without key man Usman Khawaja for the series opener as he is with the Australian Test side preparing for the Ashes. In his absence, Alex Hales is the man they need to fire at the top of the order. The Englishman has been in the news for the wrong reasons recently, but there’s not doubting his ability in the T20 game so watch for him to explode. Daniel Sams was brilliant in the 2019/20 series, finishing as the competition’s leading wicket taker before injury restricted him to just six matches last season. He was a travelling reserve for Australia’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign and is the most likely wicket taker for the Thunder.
Brisbane Heat
Tom Abell, Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Max Bryant, Tom Cooper, Ben Duckett, Liam Guthrie, Sam Heazlett, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne (Nathan McSweeney), Chris Lynn, Michael Neser (Cameron Gannon), Jimmy Pierson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Will Prestwidge, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson (Hugo Burdon), Jack Wildermuth
Chris Lynn is always the key player for the Heat when he’s fit and firing. The big hitter averaged 35.23 with the bat at a strike rate of 154.73 in last year’s tournament and is capable of tearing a game to shreds on his day. Mujeeb Ur Rahman burst onto the BBL scene a couple of years ago as an 18-year-old and impressed from the start. The spinner from Afghanistan averaged 13.43 with the ball last year with an economy rate of just 6.27. He can be extremely hard to get away at times and can also take key wickets, evidenced by his best figures last season of 5-15 against Hobart.
2020/21 BBL seasons
The Thunder won eight of their 14 matches last season, finishing in third spot on the ladder to qualify for the finals. They bowed out in the Knockout Final, losing to the Heat in a close match in Canberra. Hales was the club’s leading run scorer with 543 runs for the season while the dumped Callum Ferguson was next best with 405. Young spinner Tanveer Sangha was the pick of their bowlers, taking 21 wickets in his first BBL campaign
The Heat won seven and lost seven matches last season which saw them finish fourth and qualify for the Eliminator. They took care of the Adelaide Strikers in that elimination final before beating the Thunder in the Knockout. They couldn’t make it three do-or-die final wins in a row though, as they were well beaten by the Perth Scorchers in the Challenger. Lynn was their highest run scorer with 458 runs across 13 matches, while Mark Steketee was their highest wicket taker, claiming 24 wickets in 15 appearances.
Last three meetings
- 31 January 2021 (Knockout final) @ Manuka Oval: Heat 3/162 (19.1) vs Thunder 8/158 (20) – Heat won by seven wickets
- 4 January 2021 @ The Gabba: Heat 5/175 (19.1) vs Thunder 8/174 (20) – Heat won by five wickets
- 14 December 2020 @ Manuka Oval: Thunder 6/180 (18.5) vs Heat 6/178 (20) – Thunder won by four wickets
The Heat hold a significant head-to-head advantage over the Thunder (10 wins to 3) and won two of their three meetings last season.
Two of the matches were played at Manuka Oval, with both sides claiming a win each in Canberra.
Interesting to note that the side that bowled first won each of the three encounters, so opting to chase may prove an advantage tonight as well.
Pre match predictions
Hale-ing sixes: Alex Hales to make it hail cricket balls at Manuka with five sixes.
Mad Max: Max Bryant to go big with 50 runs, including four sixes.
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