The Adelaide Strikers host the Sydney Thunder on Thursday night for a place in the 2016 Big Bash League final.
Both sides boast some of the competition’s best bowlers, but they have endured contrasting fortunes this campaign. The Thunder started the season as the best team in the Big Bash, winning their first three games before a four-match losing streak put their finals hopes in jeopardy. A win over the Sydney Sixers was enough to earn the Thunder fourth place, but they had to rely on the Melbourne Renegades losing their final match.
The Strikers, on the other hand, have been the team of the competition so far. They’ve suffered just the one loss – incidentally a mauling at the hands of the Thunder – and have been imperious playing at the Adelaide Oval.
Key batsmen
Travis Head has had the summer of his career thus far. The left-hander started the year with a double-hundred in the Matador Cup, and that brilliant hitting has been on display during the Big Bash.
Only Chris Lynn has hit more sixes than Head’s 20, and the 22-year-old’s match-winning century on New Year’s Eve showed he has the skill and temperament for the big occasion.
There are plenty of class batsmen to choose from in the Thunder’s lineup, but it’s hard to look past the impact Usman Khawaja’s return will have. In just two games the silky left-hander has made 171 runs, including a classy hundred at the MCG.
Should he open and get the Thunder off to a flyer, it will lay a platform for the likes of Michael Hussey, Shane Watson and Andre Russell to tee off in the later overs.
| BBL|05 – Leading wicket-takers | |||
| Team | Player | Wickets | Economy |
| Strikers | Adil Rashid | 15 | 6.38 |
| Thunder | Clint McKay | 14 | 7.35 |
| Thunder | Andre Russell | 14 | 7.77 |
| Scorchers | AJ Tye | 13 | 6.79 |
| Sixers | Sean Abbott | 11 | 10 |
| Strikers | Ben Laughlin | 11 | 8.18 |
The imports
Both sides have made good use of their international players. Mahela Jayawardene has been excellent for Adelaide since moving to the top of the order and is due to return from a quad strain for this game.
But while Jayawardene took time to find his form in the competition, Adil Rashid has been brilliant for the Strikers since ball one. The leg-spinner has picked up a competition-best 15 wickets at an economy rate of just 6.38. With a wrong’un that has been hard to pick, the Englishman will have a big role to play on an Adelaide Oval pitch that typically favours the spinners.
For the Thunder, they may have one of the greatest all-rounders ever on their squad in Jacques Kallis, but injury and poor batting form means that all of the talk has been about the enigmatic play of Andre Russell.
The West Indian has 175 runs at a strike rate of 192.3 for the tournament and is also the equal-highest wicket-taker for the Thunder with 14. Blessed with both blistering pace and the ability to clear any boundary, Russell has the ability to turn any game on its head.
The return of Usman Khawaja is a massive boost for the Sydney Thunder. (Image: Sydney Thunder)
The wily veterans
This semi-final will see two of the best elder statesmen in cricket go head-to-head. With 6891 Twenty20 runs to his name, Brad Hodge is still the peer of any batsman in cricket’s shortest format.
230 runs at an average of 57.5 this season says he doesn’t seem to be slowing with age. Hodge has helped the Strikers to a number of successful chases, and his 56 not out against the Stars showed he’s just as adept at setting up a big first-innings score.
However if any veteran has the quality of Hodge it’s Mike Hussey. A lazy 277 runs for the season is more than any other Thunder batsman has managed, and Hussey’s experience in all conditions will be critical in Sydney’s attempts to negate the impact of the key Strikers bowlers Ben Laughlin and Rashid.
Missing players
Injuries have been looming over this fixture, and the fitness of two key imports – Jayawardene and Kallis – will play a role in determining who progresses to the final. Both are expected to play, but a semi-final is hardly the ideal setting to return after an injury-enforced layoff.
Regardless of fitness though, Adelaide will enter the match without one of their key bowlers. While players selected for Australia’s T20 squad will be allowed to remain with their franchises until the end of the Big Bash, Kane Richardson’s impressive display in the last ODI against India means he will be unavailable for the Strikers.
They have some impressive seamers to fill that void – Laughlin in particular has been excellent – but with Billy Stanlake also out injured, the Strikers’ bowling depth will be tested.
Prediction
The form of the two teams suggests the Sixers should win this one easily, but the strength of the Thunder’s lineup means they cannot be written off. Far from it, in fact; a batting order boasting Kallis, Khawaja, Watson, Hussey and Russell is, on paper at least, as good as any in the Big Bash.
The Thunder’s bowling attack also has the firepower to trouble a much less-experienced Strikers lineup – Clint McKay and Russell have taken 14 wickets apiece – and Fawad Ahmed’s spin should be well-suited to the Adelaide Oval.
The Strikers will certainly be hard to beat; they haven’t won seven of their eight games this season due to luck. But aside from Hodge and Jayawardene, they’re lacking experience, and a bowling attack missing two of their three first-choice seamers means they’ll be relying on players who are not used to the pressure of such a big match.
The Strikers should go into the match as favourites, but the Thunder have beaten them once already this season. Who’s to say they won’t do it again?
Sydney Thunder in a nailbiter.
While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
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