Sydney-T and Brisbane-H will lock horns in the Monday doubleheader encounter of Australia T20 League 2020-21. Both sides won their previous New Year fixtures.
Match Timings: Jan 04, 1:45 PM IST
Team Preview
The Gabba in Brisbane will host the Monday clash between Sydney-T and Brisbane-H. They are coming off an impressive victory against Melbourne-R and Sydney-S. Another win will make the campaign better for both Lynn and Ferguson. Brisbane had some heartbreak in the last two weeks, before winning comfortably against the defending champions. The bowlers had a decent outing in the home ground as Sydney-S put 165 on board. Brisbane welcomed Joe Burns in top-order but he failed with the bat.
The middle-order was tested one more time and Brisbane found themselves on the same boat. After going six down on 121, Brisbane were in deep trouble but this time, they held the nerve, thanks to match-winning cameos from Gregory and Wildermuth. This win will surely form confidence among the players. They have beaten a top side who were coming off a 5-matches winning streak. There is good news for Brisbane as Chris Lynn will be back in the squad as captain. It will boost its top-order which has struggled badly in a couple of games.
Meanwhile, Sydney-T had a glorious campaign so far with five wins out of six and they are undefeated after losing the season the season opener against Melbourne-S. Their arch-rivals Sydney-S have taken the top spot after the victory on Sunday and now, Ferguson’s troops can upstage them with another victory against Brisbane. In the previous game, Sydney-T edged past Melbourne-R comfortably in a rain-affected clash at Queensland. In a 17-overs fixture, Melbourne-R put a total of 166, riding on Marsh’s 87 and Sydney’s openers started high with 51-runs stand in just 4 overs. When the game stopped, they were 7-runs ahead in the D/L method.
Ferguson is leading from the front and he is in solid form this season. He has aggregated 206 runs at an average of 41.60. The openers are also going strong with the last couple of games and it’s a great sign for them. Sydney is slightly better than Brisbane but Chris Lynn have made the hosts strong in the batting unit and they overcame the defending champions in last game so morale is high.
Pitch Report
Gabba has enough bounce, and due to its sluggish behavior, the track offers plenty of help to spinners. It’s a batting-friendly wicket. It would be a competitive-scoring game and the chasing side will have an advantage.
Possible XI
Brisbane–H
Chris Lynn (C), Max Bryant, Joe Denly, Jimmy Peirson (WK), Lewis Gregory, Jack Wildermuth, James Bazley, Mujeeb ur Rehman, Mark Steketee, Xavier Bartlett, Matt Kuhnemann
Sydney–T
Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson (C), Sam Billings (WK), Oliver Davies, Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Green, Adam Milne, Nathan McAndrew
Key Players
Brisbane-H
Chris Lynn
Australia T20 League (last season) – M: 14, Runs: 387, SR: 148.84
Mujeeb ur Rehman
This season so far – M: 6, Wickets: 9, Avg: 13.67
Sydney-T
Alex Hales
Australia T20 League (last season) – M: 17, Runs: 576, Avg: 38.40
This season so far – M: 6, Runs: 197, Avg: 32.83
Callum Ferguson
This season so far – M: 6, Runs: 206, Avg: 41.60
