The Sydney Smash takes place at the SCG on Saturday night in a game that shapes to be an interesting affair. The Thunder are unbeaten and are unbeaten so far with the Sixers being an even 2 wins and 2 losses so far.
Sydney Sixers squad (13): Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran, Ben Dwarshuis, Dan Hughes, Ben Manenti, Steve O'Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, Henry Thornton, James Vince
Sydney Thunder squad (13): Callum Ferguson, Jonathan Cook, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Liam Hatcher, Usman Khawaja, Chris Morris, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Dan Sams, Chris Tremain
BBL09 Sixers vs Thunder Betting Tips
Sixers
The Sixers bounced back from consecutive losses with a dominant win over the Perth Scorchers. Import Tom Curran put on a smart knock of 43 off 21 balls and took a wicket as well in what was a complete performance from them.
In the bowling department, Jackson Bird made his first appearance of the season and made it a memorable one, chipping in with three big wickets. He had figures of 2-1 after two overs, dismissing Bancroft for 1 and Livingstone for 2. After going for 209 against the Heat in the previous game it was important for the Sixers to improve their bowling and they did just that and they look primed and ready for the Thunder.
A key issue this year has been the top order of the Sixers failing to put on a big score with only one of their opening four batsmen making forty or more runs in their four games, which was Josh Philippe’s 81 not out in their season opener. The strange thing with this is their top order haven’t looked bad in those games, they just haven’t managed to build on their starts. Dan Hughes has averaged the lowest of the four averaging just over 16 with Philippe, Vince and Henriques all averaging 23 or more. It is a matter of time before at least two of them take the game by the neck and set a huge score and against their Sydney rivals this could just be that time. I also have really liked the positivity shown by especially Philippe in the early overs and I back the Sixers to make a fast start here.
Highest 1st Six Overs - Sixers
$1.90
Thunder
The Thunder have a perfect 2/2 record so far with another game cancelled due to smoke that they were on track to win at the time so they will be ecstatic with their start to the season. Their batting line-up has looked fantastic so far posting back to back 170 totals and it has been backed up with strong bowling displays.
Due to both teams having batting line-ups that look to be in good form, the overs for the total match runs looks to be a smart play here. The Thunder have averaged 171.5 runs in their two completed games with the Sixers averaging 167.5 in their last two games as well.
OVER 318.5 Total Runs
$1.83
Prediction
The Thunder couldn’t have been more impressive so far this season but it looks like the Sixers are building towards a huge game and score. The inclusion of Bird back into their bowling attack is a big plus and with the added confidence to Tom Curran the Sixers can cause the minor upset in the Sydney derby.
