Deadline: December 28, 2019 at 1:40 PM IST
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Pitch report
The very first innings of the season at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) hinted that it will be a good hunting ground for the bowlers – a scenario highly disliked by the audience of the T20 cricket. The Scorchers were shot down for 131 all out. However, Josh Philippe rubbished the speculations with a blistering knock of 81* off 44. In the next match, Chris Lynn continued the mayhem, blasting 94 off 35.
If anything, the SCG is a paradise for the batsmen. That being said, from fantasy cricket’s perspective, it is crucial to have 3-4 bowlers in the team. As many as 23 wickets – some came off bad deliveries or in the process of overhitting – fell in 2 matches.
Probable XIs
Sixers: Daniel Hughes, Josh Philippe (wk), James Vince, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Tom Curran, Hayden Kerr, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Lloyd Pope, Jackson Bird
Thunder: Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (c), Matthew Gilkes, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Chris Morris, Chris Green, Chris Green, Arjun Nair, Chris Tremain, Jonathan Cook
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely.
Match prediction
With 2 wins and an abandoned match, the Thunder are at the top of the table. Meanwhile, the Sixers have won 2 matches and lost as many, and are at the fourth spot. Going by the team combination, we are likely to witness an even contest. Both teams boast power-hitters and smart death bowlers.
Players to watch out for
Sean Abbott leads the bowling chart with 9 wickets in 4 matches. He is a genuine wicket-taker – the one with an array of deliveries in his armoury. More importantly, he does not mind bowling one-over spells. Somehow he manages to provide a breakthrough at any point of the game.
Tom Curran is a handy cricketer. He can swing the ball in the powerplay, use his off-cutters at the death, and whip his bat hard and accumulate runs. He collected as many as 24 runs in the Sixers’ last match, overall scoring 43* off 21. With the ball, he has dismissed 6 batsmen.
Josh Philippe has scored the bulk of the runs for the Sixers: his 129 runs have come with a strike rate of 133. James Vince, with 92 runs, is at the second spot.
Daniel Sams is to the Thunder what Tom Curran is to the Sixers. However, he is yet to shine with the bat, scoring a duck in the only innings he played. Overall, he has 9 half-centuries and 28 wickets in 23 T20s.
Calum Ferguson, Alex Hales, and Usman Khawaja have a fifty each to their names. Even if they lose an early wicket, Ferguson comes at No. 3 and steadies the ship. They have a concrete plan in place: only one of the two batsmen will attack, while the other will try to bat through. In this case, Ferguson is the one who holds the innings together.
Also, get to know the tips & tricks on how to play fantasy cricket.