BBL 7, Match 20, Preview: Thunder look to gain momentum against Strikers at home

Sydney Thunder have completely lost their way after absolutely storming into the tournament by winning the Sydney derby on the very first day. It seemed after that match that they would be a force this season, but the inconsistency with both bat and ball has now pushed them behind quite a few teams as they find themselves out of top 4 in the standings now.

The matches that the Thunder have won, they have looked really good in them with players putting some magnificent individual performances, but they have just not been able to maintain the intensity two games in a row. There hasn’t been any kind of momentum through their campaign which would be disappointing for their fans.

They pack a punch in the batting department, but their bowling has been all over the place and that will be their main area of concern coming into this game against the Strikers. They would want their trump card Mitchell McLenaghan to fire who hasn’t been able to do justice to his potential so far in the Thunder jersey.

The Adelaide Strikers, on the other hand, had been stream-rolling past, everyone, until the Hurricanes brought their winning streak to a halt at Bellerive Oval the other night. It was still a close game and at one point the Strikers were well and truly on their way to chasing the target of 184, however it wasn’t to be at the end as the partnership between Travis Head and Collin Ingram was broken at the wrong time and the lower order players couldn’t quite get the job done. However, the way the duo of Head and Ingram batted, it would have been heartening to see for the team management.

Bowling wise, Rashid Khan was the pick again as he went for less than 5 runs an over and removed two key players of the Hurricanes’ line-up, but for once he wasn’t well supported by the fast bowlers as George Bailey’s boys piled runs on the board and set an above par target which proved to be too many to chase for the Strikers. The Strikers quicks, however, have been in fantastic form in the tournament barring that game and they will just shrug it off as an off day.

There isn’t too much to pick between the two teams on paper. On the basis of recent form, one would like to think that the Strikers are the favourites, but the Thunder have it in them to beat anyone on a given day.

Predicted XI:

Sydney Thunder: Jos Butler, Kurtis Patterson, Shane Watson (C), Callum Ferguson, Ben Rohrer, Arjun Nair, Aiden Blizzard, Clive Green, Mitchell McClenaghan, Fawad Ahmed, Andrew Fekete

Adelaide Strikers: Alex Carey (wk), Jake Weatherald, Travis Head (C), Collin Ingram, Jonathan Wells, Jake Lehmann, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Ben Laughlin, Billy Stanlake