FANTASY
Follow UsSydney Thunder will take on Adelaide Strikers in the Match No. 53 of Big Bash League (BBL 10) at the Adelaide Oval on Monday (January 25). Both teams are eyeing the knockout spots.
This match is among those unique fixtures where the two teams are meeting in consecutive days. The first fixture between these two sides saw a balance between bat and ball. In the end, Adelaide Strikers came out on top by 6 runs.
It was a turn of fortune for Thunder as after posting the highest total in the previous game – thanks to Alex Hales’ brilliance – they collapsed against the Strikers losing wickets from second to fifth in space of 15 runs.
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.
GROUND DETAILS & TEAM COMBINATION
The ground has hosted eight BBL matches this season. The hosts Strikers have won five of these. However, Thunder’s game against the Sixers that witnessed the first innings score of 232 was also held here.
Average first innings score at this ground is 175/7. The team that batted first, won five out of the eight contests.
The Ground has favoured pacers as compared to spinners in the last 16 innings. Fast bowlers have taken a wicket every 17.4 deliveries, whereas spinners have picked a wicket every 22.5 balls. However economically pacers have proved costly than spinners.
Seamer Wes Agar is the highest wicket-taker (14 wickets) this season at Adelaide Oval. However, keeping Peter Siddle away from the Fantasy XI could be an injustice, as the pacer has taken 10 wickets in the last six innings at this venue and was also the man of the match in the previous game between the two sides.
Captain Selection
Alex Hales is the highest run-scorer in the BBL this season. He scored 472 runs in 13 innings, which includes two half-centuries and one century that he blasted at the Adelaide Oval in the match against Sixers. Adding more power to Thunder's batting unit, the right-handed batsman has been impressive this season and could be an ideal pick for captain selection. He did not score much in the last game hence his chances of clicking in this innings are higher.
X-Factors
Tanveer Sangha is the fourth-highest wicket-taker (20 wkts) in BBL this season and also in the last match against Sixers at Adelaide Oval, he picked two crucial wickets despite being a pace friendly pitch. He has grabbed most wickets (17) than any other bowler in the middle overs (5 to 16) this season.
Brendan Doggett has emerged as a key inclusion for Thunder in the last few games. In the three matches he has played this season, he seven wickets to his name at 10.3 balls per wicket. Doggett picked two wickets in the last encounter between these two sides.
Alex Carey has shouldered run-scoring responsibility for Adelaide Strikers at the top order. He is the highest run-scorer at the Adelaide Oval in this season. So far, he averages 44.86 here and has a strike-rate of 134.8. Moreover, as a keeper, he is bound to provide with points behind the stumps.
