The Sydney Thunder will make their return to Spotless Stadium on Thursday afternoon when they face the Melbourne Stars in the first of the Thursday double header in BBL09. It will be a massive day for the Melbourne-Sydney rivalry as the Thunder and Stars game is followed by the Melbourne Renegades taking on the Sydney Sixers in the evening.
We have a preview and tips for the first game of the day, which gets underway at 3.40pm, below.
Sydney Thunder Squad (13): Callum Ferguson (c), Jonathan Cook, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Morris, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Chris Tremain
Melbourne Stars Squad (13): Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Peter Handscomb, Clint Hitchcliffe, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Haris Rauf, Dale Steyn, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall, Dale Steyn
BBL09 Thunder vs Stars Betting Tips
Sydney Thunder
The Thunder have had a fantastic start to their BBL09 campaign and currently sit atop the table with a 3-1-1 record after five games. The captured a narrow three run win over the Adelaide Strikers at home in their last match as skipper Callum Ferguson blasted 73 off just 46 balls to set up a winning total of 168. Ferguson has been in great touch to start the season and currently leads all run scorers in BBL09 with 229 runs at a healthy average of 76.33.
The Thunder bowling unit hasn't been as strong as their batting, however, Daniel Sams has imressed with 9 wickets through five games so far, the second highest tally in BBL09. The Thunder have been laregely getting the job done in their batting department, with scores of 172, 171 and 168 contributing to their three wins. A lot rests on the shoulders of Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson at the top of the order and so far they have been able to cope with the pressure.
It's against a talented Stars opening unit where we think Usman Khawaja might just have some problems. Daniel Worrall has shown great ability to swing the new white ball both ways throughout his BBL09 career and has been a master of picking up wickets in the powerplay. Combine him with Dale Steyn who still has raw pace and is an extremely smart limited overs bowler and we are leaning towards the Khawaja unders here, which have been creeping up with solid performances in BBL09 so far.
Usman Khawaja UNDER 27.5 Runs
$1.88
Melbourne Stars
Much like the Thunder, the Stars have barely put a foot wrong in BBL09 so far. They have a 3-1 record through four games and can move to the top of the BBL table with a win on Thursday. On paper, they are the strongest team in the league and have talented players from 1-11 on any given night. They are damaging at the top of the order with Marcus Stoinis in fantastic form and they are more than capable of rebuilding through the middle of the innings if they lose early wickets with the likes of Hilton Cartwright, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell and Ben Dunk in the middle order.
Their bowling stocks are also star studded and deep. Daniel Worrall, Haris Rauf and Dale Steyn will combine for an elite three pronged pace attack on Thursday afternoon while Adam Zampa will handle the bulk of the spin duties. The beauty of the Stars bowling stocks comes in the form of their allrounders though. Alongside the afforementioned bowlers, the Stars also have the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Marcus Stoinis or even Nic Maddinson to call upon to bowl crucial overs through the middle period, which rarely leaves captain Glenn Maxwell looking for options.
With Sandeep Lamicchane being rested for the clash, Glenn Maxwell will likely need to bowl at least three overs as a second spinner on Thursday. Maxwell has been handy with the ball this season, picking up two wickets in just six total overs bowled. He is always in the game in the field, rarely misses out with the bat and now throw in three or four overs, and we love the look of his player performance line.
Glenn Maxwell OVER 36.5 Points
$1.88
Prediction
The Thunder are in solid form at the moment, but it's incredibly hard to look past the Stars on a night to night basis. A game of T20 cricket can be won by the performance of one player and at the moment, the Stars have more out and out matchwinners than any team in the competition. Their ability to recover from collapses and their ridiculous bowling depth will rarely have us betting against the Stars.
Melbourne Stars H2H
$1.66
