BBL 7, Match 11, Preview: Hobart Hurricanes look for first win at home ground

Sydney Thunder had started the tournament with a thrilling win in the first game, but they lost the plot thereafter and with two consecutive losses, they are now sitting at no. 5 in the table. Thunder will take on Hobart Hurricanes tomorrow who themselves are positioned at the bottom of the table. However, to be fair to them, they have played just one game so far.

Thunder’s batting is over-dependent on the captain Shane Watson which is never a good sign for any team. While Watson has looked in good form so far, nobody else has complimented him from the other end. Callum Ferguson playing his first match for the Thunder the other night against the Heat made a decent contribution of 37, but the overall firepower is lacking in the line-up and it all boils down to Watson to play long and also play explosive cricket.

They may actually be better off shuffling the batting order a little bit and using Ferguson at 3 who has a more sedate approach to his batting and can see through the innings with other batsmen playing around him. Watson, in that scenario, can bat at 5 and possibly take up the finishing role with Arjun Nair who at a young age has been able to catch a lot of eyeballs with his all-round talent.

There is also doubt over the availability of Ben Rohrer who took a nasty blow on his neck batting in the last game against the Brisbane Heat and looked in enormous discomfort while leaving the ground. If he misses out, Thunder batting will weaken even further as he is a seasoned campaigner in T20 cricket.

With Jos Buttler in the XI, Thunder are struggling to find room for the English limited-over skipper Eoin Morgan who can actually be the answer to their middle-order woes. The second overseas player is Mitchell McLenaghan who is doing a decent job with the ball and it’s hard to drop him.

Hobart Hurricanes, on the other hand, don’t have too many problems in the middle order with George Bailey and Daniel Christian providing them experience and stability there. Both have got a fair idea of how to pace the innings in T20 cricket and can smash the ball a long distance too whenever needed. Apart from them, the young Ben McDermott has also shown glimpses of what a devastating T20 player he can be.

Bowling wise also, Hobart look good on paper. There is variety in their bowling. While the South African Jofra Archer brings some raw pace onto the table, Tymal Mills is there with his deceptive change-ups and Cameron Boyce’s leg spin on top of that makes it a multi-dimensional attack.

Both the sides will be keen for a win tomorrow and will go all-out which makes it a cracking contest. Also, the Aurora Stadium where the match will be played is one of the smallest grounds in the competition promises a high scoring and entertaining game.

Sydney Thunder (Predicted XI): Jos Buttler (WK), Kurtis Patterson, Shane Watson (C), Callum Ferguson, Ben Rohrer, Arjun Nair, Ryan Gibson, Chris Green, Mitchell McClenaghan, Fawad Ahmed, Andrew Fekete

Hobart Hurricanes (Predicted XI): Alex Doolan, D’Arcy Short, Ben McDermott, George Bailey (C), Daniel Christian, Matthew Wade (WK), Jofra Archer, Cameron Boyce, Clive Rose, Tymal Mills, Aaron Summers

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