The second match of the highly entertaining Big Bash league 2020’s Tuesday doubleheader will feature the second-placed Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars. The match is set to take place at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Sydney Thunders are placed in a dominating second position on the table with 11 points and has a very high net run-rate when compared to the other teams. A win here for the Thunders will find them on top of the table. Stars on the other side were handed their first defeat of this season by Sixers on Saturday after the Stars skipper Glenn Maxwell failed to defend 20 runs in the last over. Said that, the winner of this encounter is certain to find themselves at the top of the table.
This is the second time the two teams will be locking horns. The previous encounter went in favor of Maxwell and Co. The 3rd match of the BBL 2020 saw the Stars win the toss and chose bat first at the very same venue. Their opener Marcus Stoinis scored 61 runs and ensured his team reached a decent total of 170.
The Thunders in reply found themselves in the driver’s seat till the 12th over but the fall of Alex Hales was followed by a cluster of wickets and at the end found themselves well short of the target.
Who among the two will find themselves on the top of the table? Can Stars overcome the loss and continue their winning ways? Can the Sydney Thunders make it four wins a row?
Match Toss Time: 18:45 Local (13:15 IST)
Match Start Time: 19:15 Local (13:45 IST)
Match Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra
Weather Report
The conditions hold no threat for the game as clear skies are expected during the course of the game. The temperature is expected to hover in the range of 21-16 degrees and the humidity at the peak is likely to touch the 67 percent mark.
Pitch
The last match played at Manuka Oval was between the Thunders and Renegades. The pitch was an absolute belter for the batsmen as the Thunders’ batsmen notched up 209 runs. The second innings though saw the Renegades being bundled out for 80 runs but that mainly was due to the poor batting by the Melbourne side.
The team winning the toss should be looking to bat first and let the scoreboard pressure take care of the things.
Team News
Thunders’ only loss came against the Stars, in their opening game. Since then they have been on a winning streak. They have been performing well as a team and it has been a team effort rather than a one-man show. Given the form and balance in the team, it would be a crime to fiddle with the playing Xl.
Stars would be kicking themselves after losing the match against Sixers. The match was well in their favor till the very last over of the game but the blunder of the skipper to bring himself to bowl the last over turned out to be a disaster and he would have had a lot of answering to do after that decision.
Their key player Marcus Stoinis was not available for the previous encounter and there are no official reports on his availability yet. If he is fit to play, he is likely to replace Nick Larkin in the line-up. Stanlake has been leaking runs in the last couple of outings and they could experiment with Jonathan Merlo in his place.
Probable Playing Xl
Sydney Thunder (THU): Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson (c), Oliver Davies, Baxter Holt (wk), Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Adam Milne, Tanveer Sangha
Melbourne Stars (MLS): Ben Dunk, Andre Fletcher, Hilton Cartwright, Glenn Maxwell (c), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Nick Larkin/Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Liam Hatcher, Billy Stanlake/Jonathan Merlo, Zahir Khan
THU vs MLS Fantasy Team
Nicholas Pooran, Alex Hales, Hilton Cartwright, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Green, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Hatcher, Nathan Coulter-Nile
Captain Picks: Glenn Maxwell (MLS), Callum Ferguson (THU)
Vice-Captain Picks: Nicholas Pooran (MLS), Oliver Davies (THU)
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