The second match of Friday’s Double Header sees the 2nd edition of the Sydney Smash in Adelaide. The top of the table Sixers (8-3 for 32 points) take on cross town rivals the Thunder (6-5 for 23 points) with the winner to take on bragging rights and more importantly solidify their position for the BBL finals. A win for the Sixers pretty much wraps up 1st spot while a win for the Thunder will get them back into the top 3. This second match on Friday will take place at the scheduled time of 1915 AEDT.

 

Adelaide has been called upon to host the remaining rescheduled fixtures from Sydney and they get themselves a cracker on Friday night. Adelaide is experiencing some lovely weather and that continues on Friday night with sunny skies into a warm evening. Currently the Sixers are warm favourites at $1.70 which you would expect from a side that is top of the ladder. 

 

As for the theme of this coming weekend, the majority of the available Test squad members are back for their respective sides and the Sixers are the ones to benefit. Moises Henriques and Sean Abbott have been named in the Sixers squad depending on South Australia clearance. If these two players are cleared to play then this will change the overall structure of the side. Henriques has always been a number 4 or 5 batsman so expect the likes of Jake Avendano making way to accommodate the reshuffle. Sean Abbott should come into the side but Ben Dwarshuis is also pushing for selection from injury. There are going to be some unlucky players missing out here with the full 19 man squad available . 

 

Likely XI: Philippe, Vince, Hughes, Henriques, Silk, Christian, Brathwaite, Abbott, Dwarshuis, O’Keefe, Bird

 

For the Thunder I was going to mention that it is business as usual for the side but unfortunately the hand injury to Daniel Sams will mean he will miss this match. Sam Billings and Alex Hales are still committed to the BBL despite holding a contract to the T10 league in the UAE. So Sams is the only player to be out of the side. It would be interesting on what the Thunder name here as they tend to rotate the middle order and bowlers. 

 

Likely XI: Khawaja, Hales, Ferguson, Billings, Davies, Cutting, Green, McAndrew, Doggett, Milne, T Sangha

 

As we saw all tournament long from Draftstars, they listed Sean Abbott as the most expensive player for the Sixers every match. Now that he is selected along with quality Sixers players, this makes line-up construction quite tricky. You would expect Abbott and Steve O’Keefe to bowl 4 overs but it is a bit of a toss up on the rest. I put James Vince as the opener to accommodate Moises Henriques but it would be lovely if Jake Avendano kept his spot for a cheap plug in value play. By now we know what to expect from the Thunder but do keep an eye out for the teams at the flip.

 

 

Love It - James Vince ($12,900)

 

Coming off his highest fantasy score of the tournament, Vince is starting to become fantasy relevant as a value play. With Edwards and Avendano no longer at the top this will give Vince the opportunity to spend more time at the crease and build an innings. If Vince remains at number 3 then that is not an issue either. 87 fantasy points in his last match against Scorchers. 

 

Love It - Ben Cutting ($14,100)

 

In the absence of Daniel Sams, expect Cutting to be more involved in the Thunder bowling attack. Cutting bowled 4 overs in the absence of Sams back on the 9th of January against the Scorchers taking 1 wicket. Pretty cheap for an explosive batting all-rounder who has come off some OK fantasy scoring. I like his opportunity to really contribute in this match-up. 

 

Don’t Love It - Moises Henriques ($15,400)

 

Continuing the theme of rusty Test players coming back to T20 cricket is a hard one to predict. Henriques has played bugger all cricket in the last 3 months and I would want to see where he comes in this batting order. He could be pushed down the order if power hitting is required in the back half of the innings. Just want to monitor first up. 

 

Don’t Love It - Chris Green ($16,900)

 

Outside of Rashid Khan, spin is not really the go at Adelaide Oval. Sure you can bowl them in short and hope to get caught in the outfield (Marnus Labuschagne style) but this surface doesn’t suit Green’s game. Has mighty struggled in his past two matches and that price point is just too much of a risk with the caliber of other players. Pass for me. 

 

Who Knows - Callum Ferguson ($12,700)

 

Ferguson has struggled of late but did look like he was back into it against Hurricanes as he was building into a good innings. Alas only 23 off 24 balls but he may be just tempting enough to throw him in batting at 3. Only made 3 in the previous Sydney smash but he would be itching to get back into the runs. 

 

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