The Big Bash League season is rapidly approaching a conclusion with just three teams now left in contention for the BBL14 crown. In an exciting edition of the Sydney Smash on Friday night we have the Thunder and the Sixers going at it in The Challenger, with the winner earning a shot at the Hurricanes in The Final on Monday night.
It’s been another huge season of fantasy BBL on Draftstars with hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money awarded, while our 40 Big Bash Star ticket holders have been decided. They’ll battle it out for a slice of a $50,000 prize pool on Monday.
Before that, there’s $20,000 guaranteed to be won on Friday night in the $15 buy-in contest, while a range of side events will be sure to tickle your off bail.
Sixers vs Thunder $20,000 Contest ($15 entry)
Sixers vs Thunder $3,000 High Roller ($150 entry)
Sixers vs Thunder $1,500 Mini ($2 entry)
For betting tips on this match, and every match of the BBL14 season, make sure you head to our BBL tips page.
Big Bash League (BBL14) Fantasy Tips: Sixers vs Thunder
Sydney Cricket Ground, Friday 7:15pm AEDT
Predicted Sixers XI: Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Lachlan Shaw, Ben Dwarshuis, Hayden Kerr, Ben Manenti, Mitch Perry, Jafer Chohan
Predicted Thunder XI: David Warner, Hugh Weigben, Matthew Gilkes, Sam Billings, Oliver Davies, George Garton, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Andrews, Wes Agar, Tanveer Sangha
Perhaps both teams are a little undermanned on paper, with the Thunder copping some brutal injuries during the season, while international duties have robbed us of the services of a number of stars.
The Sixers have a dominant record at the SCG and also against their cross-town rivals. They won their last two games of the season, and after a narrow loss to the Canes, they should be able to bounce back here.
Try to grab a pitch report before finalising your teams. We’d love to see a road and a high-scoring clash, but if we get another tricky slow pitch like the other night, then bowler-heavy teams will be the way to go with your fantasy lineups.
Fantasy Plays
Love It – Ben Dwarshuis ($18,400)
Big Benny Dwarshuis has had another fantastic BBL season. While his economy has been nothing special, he’s picked up 14 wickets during the season and bowled a full allotment of 4 overs in every match. The thing I love about Dwarshuis this season is his power hitting. He’s been well-utilised late in the order with some great cameos to boost his fantasy scoring where he averages 55.1 this season.
Love It – George Garton ($11,500)
George Garton has come in late to BBL14 and struggled to hit his stride so far. However he is more talented than his numbers suggest and at a budget price, he’s a good approach for some salary relief. Garton will hopefully get a few overs, and will be batting in the top 6, so he’ll get opportunity. Hopefully he can convert that into some points for us!
Don’t Love It – David Warner ($20,500)
Dave Warner is such a hit-or-miss play in fantasy BBL. If he gets out cheap, your team is cooked, and that’s a big risk at a $20k salary. If I’m going with a Sixers script, then I’ll be fading Warner to make an impact and spend my cash elsewhere on more multi-dimensional players.
Don’t Love It – Oliver Davies ($9,600)
He was supposed to be the next big thing, but Oliver Davies has had a poor BBL14 campaign with only one decent fantasy score for the season and just a 21.0 fantasy average. I’m not going to jump on board at this point of the season. If you want salary relief on the Thunder side then Gilkes and Weibgen are looking more threatening with the bat at the moment.
Who Knows – Nathan McAndrew ($14,500)
I’ve always been a fan of Nathan McAndrew and the way he goes about things. He’s an aggressive bowler and he doesn’t muck around with the bat. However he was very smart in the last match, bowling a heap of off-cutters and slower balls into a tricky batting wicket to end up taking 5 wickets for a huge 185 fantasy points. Those numbers might attract a lot of fantasy players to back him in again here, however consistency has never been his strong suit, so maybe a fade and hoping he’s over-owned might be the play?
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
