Adelaide Strikers vs Sydney Thunder: Big Bash live scores

The traditional New Year’s Eve Big Bash League clash will return to the Adelaide Oval as the Adelaide Strikers attempt to turn around their stuttering start to the season against the Sydney Thunder. Join The Roar for live scores from 7:15pm (AEDT).

This will be the sixth time Adelaide have held a game on New Year’s Eve, having previously beaten the Sydney Sixers twice, as well as the Perth Scorchers, Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat last year.

While the Sydney Thunder have never been to the South Australian capital on the last day of the year, they will be under the pump to stop the Strikers in a fixture which they have made their own.

And yet, the early-season form has been pretty solid from the Thunder, who, with a relatively young squad, needed wins early on.

Two from their first three, with wins against the Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars was a good way to start. Their last time out against the red-hot Hobart Hurricanes ended in a loss, but there were still positive signs to take from it as they racked up 193 with the bat.

Jason Sangha may well go on to be the find of the tournament, while Jos Buttler and Shane Watson continue to build reasonable platforms up top. If their death bowling improves, this is finals team in the waiting.

It hasn’t quite been the expected start to the season for the Strikers though, and they will be glad to be back at the Adelaide Oval for one of the season’s marquee fixtures.

After a comprehensive victory in their season opener against the Brisbane Heat, it’s been all downhill from there with losses to the Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers, the loss against Perth being particularly bad after being rolled for 88.

It was hard in some ways to get a read on that game given a very green and lively Perth Stadium pitch, but the performance wasn’t good enough.

Still, on paper, they are one of the best squads in the competition. Rashid Khan hasn’t yet hit his stride, while their top order showed against the Heat and Renegades exactly what they are capable of.

Prediction
The Adelaide Strikers have never lost a New Year’s Eve clash and while their form has been a bit shaky early on this season, I can’t see them being beaten here.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the match from 7:15pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

First ball: 7:15pm (AEDT)
Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, South Australia
TV: Live, Fox Cricket 501 and Channel 7
Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now, Kayo Sports
Overall record: Played 9, Strikers 5, Thunder 3
Umpires: Gerard Abood and Greg Davidson

Adelaide Strikers
Travis Head (c), Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Michael Cormack, David Grant, Colin Ingram (South Africa), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Ben Laughlin, Jake Lehmann, Michael Neser, Liam O’Connor, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jonathan Wells, Nick Winter

Sydney Thunder
Shane Watson (c), Fawad Ahmed, Jos Buttler (England) Pat Cummins, Anton Devcich (New Zealand) Callum Ferguson, Ryan Gibson, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Chris Jordan (England), Usman Khawaja, Jay Lenton, Nathan McAndrew, Arjun Nair, Kurtis Patterson, Sam Rainbird, Joe Root (England), Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha