Hobart Hurricanes vs Sydney Thunder, BBL 2020-21, Match 31: Fantasy Preview

Hobart Hurricanes take on Sydney Thunder in Match 31 of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21 at the Perth Stadium. The Hurricanes are in the third place with 18 points from eight games, while Thunder are just above them in second spot having accumulated 19 points from seven matches. The two teams have clashed in the BBL on 13 occasions, with the Hurricanes running away with a win on eight of those occasions and Thunder have won five. However, in the last five matches, Thunder have a slender advantage, winning three of them.

BBL head-to-head

Overall: Matches – 13 | Hurricanes – 8 Wins | Thunder – 5 Wins

Last 5 Matches: Hurricanes – 2 Wins | Thunder – 3 Wins

Suggested Teams

While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.

Ground details and team combinations

Perth has hosted 12 BBL matches since 2020 in which the bowlers have picked up a wicket at an economy rate of 8.6, with a wicket falling every 29.2 runs and 20.3 balls apart. 

The fast bowlers are a lot more expensive (econ 8.9) compared to the spinners (7.9), but have picked up a wicket every 19.6 deliveries with a gap of 29.3 runs. The corresponding numbers for the spinners are 22.2 and 29.1 respectively.

At the Perth Stadium, the average score batting first in BBL since 2020 has been 166, while for the team batting second, it is 141. Hence, the captain winning the toss should ideally decide to bat. However, an interesting fact about this venue that the average target chased here in BBL since 2020 has been just 122. 

There could be some interesting match-ups too.

After scoring a fifty in the first match of the tournament for the Hurricanes, Colin Munro has gotten off to a start in every game, but has not converted that into anything substantial. Chris Green, on the other hand, has gone for a few runs, but has always found a way to bounce back. When he has come up against Ingram in T20 cricket, he has conceded at less than run-a-ball (36 off 38) and at the same time, the South African batsman has given away his wicket just once in eight innings – which was in the CPL in 2018. A good battle awaits us.

Scott Boland has dismissed Thunder captain Callum Ferguson twice in four innings. Moreover, the Aussie batsman has scored just 12 runs off 13 balls he has faced. That translates to an average of six and strike-rate of 92.3. Boland has been in terrific form this season and could once again cause Ferguson some trouble early on. 

Captain selection

After two scores of 0, Alex Hales has been in terrific in the last four innings, in which he has registered scores of 46, 45, 71 and 37, often playing a main role in getting Thunder off to a quick start. Overall, Hales has scored 243 runs in seven innings at an astonishing strike-rate of 176.08. Hales has been terrific in T20s over the last year or so. Since 2020, he has scored 1,171 runs at a strike-rate of 155.3. Only Marcus Stoinis (1,198) and Babar Azam (1,242) have scored more in this period.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hales could score 16-39 runs in this match.

X-Factors

Dawid Malan is another big player, who cannot be ignored. The No. 1 ICC T20I batsman has started off well with the Hurricanes, having already scored 155 runs at 38.75 with a strike-rate of 123.01, including a well-compiled 75 against Melbourne Stars in his team’s first game of this year. Malan has been impressive for England at the international level as well and his transition into BBL has been an excellent one so far.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Malan could score 15-38 runs in this match.

Chris Green could be a good pick for your team in this match. He has picked up 10 wickets at a strike-rate 13.2. Condisering that two out of the top three Hobart batsmen are left-handers, he could be a valuable asset in the Thunder's team

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Green could score 4-13 runs and pick up 0-1 wickets in this match.

Ben McDermott has gotten back his form especially in the last two matches in which he has scored 31, followed by 91 – both coming against Stars. He is now the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 277 runs at 55.40 to go with an impressive strike-rate of 136.45. He also has a safe pair of hands behind the wickets, having pouched six catches from as many matches in the tournament so far.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts McDermott could score 13-36 runs in this match.