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BBL11 Fantasy Tips: Thunder vs Scorchers

28-Dec-21

By: Heath Chick

The Sydney Thunder take on the all-conquering Perth Scorchers in Tuesday night’s Big Bash League action. This one will be hosted at Manuka Oval in Canberra with the first ball to be bowled at 7:15pm AEDT.

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Catch Smatho in his video preview for tonight's match including his two locks for the slate

It’s a big ask for the Thunder but they will be very keen to make an impact against the Scorchers tonight. The Thunder went down to the Sixers on Boxing Day in a rain-interrupted contest. They gave a good showing in a tough run chase, but ultimately conceded too many runs. With a 2-3 record so far in BBL11, and with the likes of the Hurricanes, Stars and Heat all breathing down their neck, a win here for the Thunder will give them some breathing room in the quest for finals. Canberra's weather is clear and the ground is a batter's paradise.

Thunder Likely XI: Hales, Gilkes, J Sangha, Billings, Ross, Sams, Cutting, McAndrew, Green, Mahmood, T Sangha

Their fantasy gun is Daniel Sams, who knows how to get wickets and looked super-dangerous with the bat against the Sixers. Great for fantasy, but his economy has been pretty woeful which hasn’t been good for the Thunder. Saqib Mahmood and Nathan McAndrew are also attacking bowlers, so perhaps the Thunder need to think more about some defensive bowling tactics. Skipper Chris Green is one who can do so, or perhaps they might look to recall Gurinder Sandhu who started the season quite well.

With the bat, Jason Sangha looked great against the Sixers at a budget price, while import Alex Hales is overdue for a big score at the top of the order and may continue to be under-owned with recency bias. It’s worth noting that Oli Davies has been added to their 18-man squad to suggest he’s over his thumb injury, but unsure if there’s a place for him in the lineup at the moment.

Meanwhile the Scorchers continue on their merry winning ways with a perfect 6-0 start to the season. Away from home, without family around Christmas time, travelling around the country, dodging Covid…it’s been a remarkable effort so far. Will they run out of steam?

Scorchers Likely XI: Bancroft, Inglis, Marsh, Munro, Turner, Evans, Agar, Tye, Behrendorff, Hatzoglou, Mills

The Scorchers most recently smashed the Renegades twice with Mitch Marsh the standout player of the entire tournament so far. He looks incredible with the bat at the moment - pulverising the bowling to all corners. He’s also contributing well with the ball to fully justify his heavy fantasy price tag. Josh Inglis is still one to watch. After three failures, he showed glimpses of his talent on Sunday night with one epic pull shot of James Pattinson which was superb. He got himself out dancing down the wicket to Zaheer Khan, otherwise a big score was on the cards. The middle and lower order of the Scorchers aren’t getting much of a look in at the moment, so factor that into your fantasy decision making.

The Scorchers bowling unit looks very settled with Jason Behrendorff bowling with great venom with the new pill, alongside Tymal Mills. With the extra overs going to Mitch Marsh, it’s worth noting that Andrew Tye and Peter Hatzoglou only bowled five overs between them on Sunday night.

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Love It - Tanveer Sangha ($13,800)

The Thunder do have a tough assignment ahead of them but love the price of Tanveer Sangha in this one. Struggled last match, but has taken 8 wickets in the previous four matches with solid fantasy scores of 69, 103 and 40. The Canberra wicket may provide some assistance, so worth a play.

Love It - Josh Inglis ($15,100)

His price has gone up a little after some solid ownership last match, so I’m going to hope a few jump off and we land a big score with Josh Inglis. As suggested above, he looked good in the last match with a couple of crunching shots before throwing away his wicket. A big score is just around the corner for Inglis, and I want to be on when he does so!

Don’t Love It - Mitch Marsh ($22,300)

Huge price and huge ownership. Mitch Marsh is definitely going huge at the moment, but can he sustain that sort of form? At the hefty price tag and with more than half the field jumping on board his broad shoulders, I think it’s a good spot to fade him and hope for a rare failure.

Don’t Love It - Ben Cutting ($13,100)

Ben Cutting is a dynamic T20 cricketer but he’s just not getting much of a look in at the moment. Cutting has bowled only seven overs over the first five games, and backed that up with just 30 runs from 28 balls faced. Lucky he’s taken a few catches! His price and ownership are down, but I just can’t touch him while he’s so inactive in the game.

Who Knows - Peter Hatzoglou ($11,100)

Unsure what to make of big Peter. Hasn’t been terrible this season with six wickets in the first five matches, before struggling last match. His economy hasn’t been his strength, with only two economy bonuses this season so far, and both of those were on the edge! Bats at eleven and hidden in the field, so it’s hard to know which way to look at him. The price seems reasonable but his form is sliding in the wrong direction.

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