The first match of the BBL12 New Year’s Eve double header sees the Sydney Thunder host the Hobart Hurricanes as the Big Bash rolls into the Lavington Sports Ground in Albury for the first time. It should be a carnival-like atmosphere with a packed ground and NYE celebrations kicking off.
Check out our free preview and BBL betting tips for the Thunder vs Hurricanes below!
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BBL12 Sydney Thunder vs Hobart Hurricanes Preview & Betting Tips
Saturday, December 31st 3:30 AEDT, Lavington Sports Ground, Albury
Sydney Thunder
Thunder Likely XI: Alex Hales, Matthew Gilkes, Rilee Russouw, Oliver Davies, Daniel Sams, Alex Ross, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green, Gurinder Sandhu, Brendan Doggett, Usman Qadir
Both the Thunder and the Hurricanes have brought moments of brilliance and despair so far this BBL12 season to find themselves mid-pack with a 50% winning record. However the Thunder have played a couple of extra games, so this looms as an important one for the men in lime green.
The Thunder will be pleased with their back-to-back wins against the Brisbane Heat, although the Heat are slumped at the bottom of the table, so it’s hard to get too excited about those form lines. It's hard to forget they were rolled for a total of just 15 runs two weeks ago.
There is a large reliance on imports Alex Hales and Rilee Russouw with the bat, with Hales especially often acting as a barometer for the success of the side. However with skipper Jason Sangha out with injury, they need the likes of Matthew Gilkes, Oliver Davies and Alex Ross to stand up and provide support.
It was good to see the return to form by gun all-rounder Daniel Sams who smashed 36* from just 15 balls with the bat against the Heat, and followed up with a couple of wickets in a Player of the Match performance.
The depth of the Thunder bowling attack has also been tested after the mysterious sacking of Afghani Fazalhaq Farooqi. Adding to their woes, Gurinder Sandhu strained a calf in his first over last match and is in doubt for this match. Nathan McAndrew and Brendan Doggett will have to stand up as front line quicks, while Usman Qadir has come in to provide a second spin option. Doggett has been expensive so far and looks the weak link in the lineup.
Hobart Hurricanes
Hurricanes Likely XI: Matthew Wade, D'Arcy Short, Caleb Jewell, Shadab Khan, Tim David, Asif Ali, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Ellis, Joel Paris, Paddy Dooley, Riley Meredith
It was a hard-fought, and rather ugly victory for the Hurricanes last match as they managed to defend 122 against the Renegades on Christmas Eve in a low-scoring battle. On paper, the Canes always look strong with the bat but they are yet to string any form together and desperately missed Ben McDermott and Matthew Wade last match who were both late outs. Wade will return here following his suspension, while McDermott will miss again as the Canes take a cautious approach with his hamstring injury.
It will be interesting to see what batting order the Canes go with here after Jimmy Neesham was elevated to the top of the order and did ok last match, top-scoring with 28 from 19 balls. However with Wade, Short and Jewell all in action, the Canes are heavy with top order players who also just all happen to be left handed.
The Canes don’t have anyone in the top ten run scorers for the BBL12 season and it’s time for one of them to stand up with a big innings.
While their batting has been weak, their bowling is also on shaky ground. Nathan Ellis and Joel Paris are both leaking more than 10 runs an over in this BBL season and need to lift. Fortunately Riley Meredith was back to his best with 3-12 from 4 overs against the Renegades, while Paddy Dooley continues to star with his mystery spinners netting 9 wickets this season at an excellent economy of 5.67 runs per over.
Match Prediction
This is a tough one to call! Both teams are erratic and need to find some consistency in their performances, and both are coming off wins against questionable opposition. The Thunder have played some trial and pre-season matches at Albury before, but any home ground advantage will be minimal, and while we don’t know much about the pitch itself, you’d think the smaller ground would favour some high scoring.
The Hurricanes need to find a way to dismiss Alex Hales cheaply. Perhaps Riley Meredith or even Paddy Dooley might be the ticket to success. If they can do that, then I think the Hurricanes have more weapons and depth of talent in their side. The Thunder bowling is weakened and if the Canes batting can fire, I expect them to get over the line in a close one.
Alternative bet: Total match runs over 305.5 - $1.83 at Bet365
Hobart Hurricanes to win
$1.82
Same Game Multi
Alex Hales likes to pepper the boundaries with his high-risk, high-reward approach. According to our BBL12 Data Tools, Hales averages 3.6 boundaries per game and finds at least one boundary in a whopping 84% of his BBL games!
The spin twins of Paddy Dooley and Shadab Khan continue to be crucial to their success this season with their wicket taking ability so we’ll include them as well.
Finally, we’ll include Matthew Wade to make 10+ runs. He’s done this in 73% of his BBL matches and this seems like a game where he will lead from the front against an average Thunder bowling attack.
Alex Hales 1+ Boundary
Paddy Dooley 1+ Wicket
Shadab Khan 1+ wicket
Matthew Wade 10+ runs
