Sydney Thunder play Perth Scorchers in the 23rd game of Big Bash League 2011-12 on January 11. The match will be played at the Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The hosts, Thunder (11/10 at
Ladbrokes) are in a spot of bother, having won only two of five games played. A defeat here will send them hurtling towards tournament exit. Perth (4/5 at
Blue Square), on the other hand, have won their last four games after losing their opener. They are virtually through to the semi-final except that they will want to win the match to be able to host the semi-final.
It is a surprise that despite the presence of a powerhouse in Chris Gayle (7/4 at
Ladbrokes), Thunder have still lost more than they have won. The West Indian has a century and two half-centuries to his name this season and is a front-runner to finish the tournament as one of the top run-getters.
Still, it is the other batsmen who have failed Gayle and Thunder. In the run-scoring charts, after Gayle, the only batsman to have scored a total of 100 runs in the tournament is Dave Warner. Warner did it in the one game he played for the side and since then, he hasn’t played for the side because of his national commitment.
Clearly, likes of Usman Khawaja, Ben Dunk and Daniel Smith need to contribute more by way of runs.
Perth, as most oppositions, will know that even with Gayle around, it would be possible for them to tighten the screws on the scoring at the other end. Bowlers like Michael Beer, Brad Hogg and Nathan Rimmington will be looking to do just that.
The Scorchers have their own opening batsman who has three half-centuries to his name. Herschelle Gibbs (11/4 at
Boylesports) had a slow start to the competition but he has taken off well and is currently only a run behind Gayle in the charts.
Where Perth (eight points) are doing better than Thunder is that there is no over-reliance on one batsman. Gibbs has captain Marcus North (10/3 at
SkyBet) for company and there are always likes of Mitchell Marsh to contribute. It will be interesting, however, to observe how the Scorchers go if Gibbs goes early.
Ben Edmondson may concede a lot of runs, but his eight wickets in the tournament should give him confidence. Thunder have Sean Abbott and Scott Coyte doing the job for them but too many in the slow bowling department.
Expect Perth to trump Thunder in this one.
Sydney Thunder squad
SA Abbott, TJ Armstrong, ND Bills, DE Bollinger, LR Butterworth, SJ Coyte, TD Cruickshank, MR Day, LA Doran, BR Dunk, FH Edwards, JS Floros, CH Gayle, UT Khawaja, CA Philipson
Perth Scorchers squad
MJ North*, TM Beaton, MA Beer, PD Collingwood, NM Coulter-Nile, LM Davis, R Duffield, BM Edmondson, HH Gibbs, GB Hogg, SM Katich, MR Marsh, JM Mennie, NJ Rimmington, L Ronchi
The Sydney Thunder v Perth Scorchers Big Bash League game will begin at 8.00 am GMT on January 11.
