Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder, who have faced each other before in the ongoing Australia T20 League, will once again meet on January 8 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The match will set in motion at 1:40 PM IST. The Stars emerged victorious last time around; thanks to the attacking innings by Stoinis and Larkin. Stars are currently topping the points table with five wins out of their six matches. Meanwhile, the Thunders are currently at the fourth position on the points table with seven points.
Melbourne Stars, led by Glenn Maxwell, have been the most dominating team so far in the tournament. The team is coming off with three successive wins in the Australia T20 League and have looked the most threatening. However, Stars’ last two victories didn’t come easily as they were put under some pressure. But they held their nerve in the end and emerged victorious. Stars’ bowling has been good but their middle over batsmen have let them down a bit. They will be looking to improve on that.
Sydney Thunder, on the other hand, are coming off with a loss against the Brisbane Heat in a rain-hit encounter. Thunder’s bowlers were hit all around the park by the young Englishman Tom Banton, who struck the second-fastest Australia T20 League fifty of all time (16 balls). As a result, Thunders were left to chase a mammoth target of 120 in 8 overs which in the end proved to be too much for them.
Head to Head
|
Matches Played |
Melbourne Stars |
Sydney Thunder |
No Result |
|
11 |
05 |
06 |
00 |
Pitch Report
The MCG pitch didn’t produce many runs in the last match and run-making was a fairly difficult task. Scores in excess of 150 can be very challenging on this deck.
Read More: Australia T20 League Match Prediction: Adelaide Strikers vs. Sydney Sixers
Weather Conditions
The conditions will be cloudy with the temperature around 18 degrees Celsius. The humidity will mostly be in the high 80s.
Probable Playing XI
Melbourne Stars
Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Peter Handscomb (wk), Ben Dunk, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sandeep Lamichhane, Dale Steyn, Clint Hinchliffe, Adam Zampa.
Sydney Thunder
Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (c), Matthew Gilkes, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Chris Morris, Chris Green, Arjun Nair, Chris Tremain, Brendan Doggett.
Key Players
Melbourne Stars
Marcus Stoinis
Glenn Maxwell
Sydney Thunder
Usman Khawaja
Callum Ferguson
