It’s an early start in Hobart with the first game of a Sunday BBL12 double header seeing the Hurricanes taking on the Thunder at Blundstone Arena. It’s a crucial clash with massive finals implications in a battle between fifth and sixth on the BBL ladder!
Jack Tobin has you covered with his tips and preview for Hurricanes vs Thunder, and head over to our BBL Tips for previews on every game of BBL12 from the BeforeYouBet team. If you're going to have a Dabble, why not bet with Dabble?
BBL12 Hurricanes vs Thunder Preview & Betting Tips
Blundstone Arena, Sunday 15th January, 1:40pm (AEDT)
Hobart Hurricanes
Predicted XI: Ben McDermott, Caleb Jewell, Matthew Wade, Zak Crawley, Tim David, Asif Ali, Mitchell Owen, Faheem Ashraf, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith
In a big boost for the Hurricanes, Matthew Wade (personal reasons) and Paddy Dooley (finger) are expected to return to the starting eleven after the Canes last game against the Stars. Dooley will be an easy swap for Tom Andrews, however the Hurricanes will have a tough call to make on who comes out of the side for Wade. Given the balance of the side it looks likely D’Arcy Short will make way for Wade, Short has scored 105 runs at an average of 17, with a strike rate of just 112.
The Hurricanes made it look far more difficult than it should have been, however they found a way to get the job done with a two wicket win over the Stars on Monday. The Hurricanes were cruising at 1/94 in pursuit of 132, before losing 7/35 in a collapse that nearly cost them the game.
Caleb Jewell is in scintillating form at the moment, and looms as a key player in the Hurricanes push towards a finals berth. Jewell’s last four innings have resulted in scores of 54, 54, 28 and 70, with 206 runs at an average of 51.50 through that time period. Jewell has been setting great platforms for the Hurricanes power hitters, and if they can begin to capitalise on these starts, they’re going to be a dangerous side in the latter part of this season.
Sydney Thunder
Predicted XI: David Warner, Matthew Gilkes, Sam Whiteman, Oliver Davies, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Ben Cutting, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green, Brendan Doggett, Usman Qadir
Despite back to back defeats, it’s hard to see the Thunder making a change to their lineup, with very limited options remaining in their squad that has been decimated by injury. The Thunder will be hoping that David Warner can shoulder the load at the top of the order, despite how great Warner is, it’s difficult to expect one player can equally replace the impact of multiple players.
After four straight wins which saw them jump into third place on the BBL table, the Thunder have been handed two hefty defeats in consecutive games against the Sixers and the Scorchers. The latest was a nine wicket thumping on Friday night, with the Scorchers chasing down 111 inside of thirteen overs.
The Thunder’s batting unit has struggled across their last two games, with totals of 11 and 8/133. Losing Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw and Jason Sangha is beginning to impact the side, as the Thunder are lacking firepower at the top of the order. The middle order still has plenty of power, however the Thunder can keep expecting to lose wickets early and bank on the middle order to produce winning scores. The Thunder have lost five wickets in the powerplay across their last two games, and are in desperate need of a fast start with the bat on Sunday.
Match Prediction
Given the inconsistencies of both sides, this looms as a tough fixture to predict. Both teams have incredibly high ceilings, but also low floors, and are prone to some poor performances. There’s no greater proof of that, than the Thunder who were bowled out for 15 against the Strikers earlier this season, but then piled on 6/228 against the Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve. The Thunder’s loss of gun imports in Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw, as well as injuries to Jason Sangha and Gurinder Sandhu has taken a lot of quality out of the side and it’s showing. The Hurricanes side on the other hand is full with explosive batting talent with the likes of Wade, McDermott, David, Crawley, Ali and a red hot Caleb Jewell.
The Hurricanes are 3-0 at Blundstone Arena this season, and have a 6-2 record against the Thunder at Blundstone Arena across the history of the competition. The Hurricanes have the opportunity to jump the Thunder and take fifth position on the table, despite having a game in hand on the Thunder. The Hurricanes will be desperate to get themselves into the top five, and have been outstanding in Hobart this season. The Canes will pile on more misery for an out of form Thunder side, and put themselves firmly in the mix for a finals berth.
Hobart Hurricanes
$1.77 (2 Units)
Same Game Multi
As we highlighted earlier, Caleb Jewell is in a purple patch of form, and he kicks off our same game multi. With scores of 54, 54, 28 and 70 in his last four games, it’s hard to go past the most in form batsman in the competition.
Our BBL Data Tools show us that Riley Meredith has taken two or more wickets in six of his last ten games. With the vulnerabilities the Thunder have displayed at the top of the order in their last two games, Meredith could blast through the Thunder in the powerplay.
To round out the multi, we’re taking the first wicket of the first innings to be caught, which at the time of writing has saluted in 19 of the last 23 games this season. Eight Thunder batsmen were caught on Friday, whilst four of the Hurricanes eight dismissals in their last game were caught
Caleb Jewell 15+ Runs
RIley Meredith 2+ Wickets
First Wicket 1st Innings Caught - Yes
