The league-leaders, Sydney-S, will take on Perth-S in Wednesday's encounter of the Australia T20 League 2020-21. Both sides are coming off clinical victories from their previous outings.
Match Timings: Dec 06, 1:45 PM IST
Team Preview
After the defeat against Brisbane, the Defending champions bounced back in style to edge past Adelaide at Queensland, and retaining their position on top. Sydney-S have been outstanding this season, having lost just two games out of seven. At the halfway mark, Sydney-S have assured qualification for the playoffs, and Daniel Hughes would aim to finish in the top-two. In the previous encounter against Adelaide, they put an all-round show to get all four points. The bowling unit restricted Adelaide to a total of 150, and it was a cakewalk for the defending champions. Edwards and Philippe put a 47-run stand in 4.2 overs, and the early fire helped Sydney-S to control the chase. Josh Philippe’s 41 and Vince’s 45 made things easier for them. Jordan Silk got 38 off 28 balls to finish the chase with two overs to go.
The absence of Moises Henriques and Steve Smith didn’t trouble Sydney-S to step closer to the title defense. Daniel Hughes led this side smartly, and he has been a good leader for the team. West Indian players like Brathwaite and Holder have been impactful for the side. Holder even snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in last year’s clash with Melbourne-R. Josh Philippe is the leading scorer with 261 runs with a strike rate of 144.19. Silk and Vince both are taking charge in middle-overs. The bowling unit is leading by Ben Dwarshuis, who bagged 11 wickets so far, and Daniel Christian was also impressive with 9 scalps. Jake Ball had a good season in England, and he may be a key factor for upcoming matches. They also recalled Lloyd Pope to boost the spin option. Sydney-S are yet again firm favourites to win this game as they are the most balanced side of the season.
Meanwhile, Perth have gone through the roller-coaster phase. They perform high one day and on the next day, deliver a shock. They are sitting at the bottom-two with winning just two matches out of six. The two wins were recorded in the previous two matches, and it would be a positive thing for them. In New Year Eve clash, they edged past Adelaide by 7-wickets, followed by a 96-runs victory over Melbourne-R at home. On Sunday, Perth thrashed the opposition in all departments, and a back-to-back collective display from the team gave Perth the tag of “underdogs”. Josh Inglis and Colin Munro scored half-centuries after the slow start. Perth added 129 runs in the last 11 overs to get 183 on board. Bowlers did the final job with a dominant display as they demolished Melbourne-R. At one stage, they picked their 8 wickets on just 59 and finally bowled them out on 89.
Ashton Turner’s captaincy was also great in both wins, and he has made a good use of bowlers. Each player from the top-order has scored at least one good knock. Perth would expect the fire from Jason Roy and Colin Munro in the second half of the tournament. The playoff qualification is not tough if they carry the current momentum. Turner has to create bowling options because they lack the most in the 5th bowling option. Marsh and Turner both have bowled only 6 overs each this season, and they are playing as the batsmen. Perth has to break this, and the skipper have to complete all bowling options because it can trouble later. Perth have the spark, and they can surprise the champions on Wednesday.
Pitch Report
Perth’s ground is good for the bowlers, but in the T20 format, the surface behaves differently. Pacers can trouble with the new ball, but later the match progresses, batsmen can enjoy the game. Chasing would be tricky, and batting first is an ideal call after winning the toss.
Possible XI
Perth-S
Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Colin Munro, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner (c), Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed
Sydney-S
Josh Philippe (wk), Jack Edwards, James Vince, Daniel Hughes (c), Jordan Silk, Daniel Christian, Carlos Brathwaite, Ben Dwarshuis, Ben Manenti, Jake Ball, Lloyd Pope
Key Players
Perth-S
Jhye Richardson
Season so far – M: 6, Wickets: 10, Avg: 13.90
Josh Inglis
Season so far – M: 6, Runs: 152, Avg: 38
Sydney-S
Josh Philippe
Season so far – M: 7, Runs: 261, Avg: 37.28
Daniel Christian
Season so far – M: 7, Runs: 99, Wickets: 9
