FANTASY
Follow UsThe Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21 continues with Sydney Thunder taking on Melbourne Renegades in match 14 of the tournament at Manuka Oval, Canberra. Both Thunder and Renegades have some ground to make up, finding themselves at fifth and sixth in the points table respectively. A win for either side will go a long way in getting their campaign on track. While Thunder won their last two games, the Renegades have been in at the wrong end of the results in the last couple of matches and would want to set the record straight.
History is not on Thunder’s side, who have won just two out of their 11 encounters against Renegades in the BBL. In the last five meetings, Renegades have won four times – twice at the Manuka Oval – while Thunder have managed just a solitary victory.
BBL head-to-head
Overall: Matches – 11 | Thunder – 2 Win | Renegades – 9 Wins
Last 5 Matches: Thunder – 1 Win | Renegades – 4 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 & team combination
This is the fifth match in this edition of the BBL, which will be played at the Manuka Oval. In the four matches so far, a wicket has fallen every 24.7 runs, 18.6 balls apart. While the fast bowlers and the spinners have conceded at eight an over, the former have done it at a better runs per wicket ratio (22.9) and balls per wicket ratio (17.3) compared to the spinners who have struck once every 27.6 runs and 20.8 deliveries apart.
Three of the four matches at Canberra this season have been won by teams batting second, hence we can expect the captain winning the bat flip to bowl first. The average scores batting first and second are neck-and-neck at 156 and 153 respectively.
31 off the 50 wickets have gone to the pacers, but among the spinners, it is the wrist spinners who with nine wickets with an economy rate of 7.1 too have not been particularly bad either. Quality leg-spinners like Noor Ahmad and Tanveer Sangha could be two such options for your side.
There could be some interesting match-ups too
Ben Cutting in the past has played many memorable cameos, while Kane Richardson is one of the finest T20 bowlers around due to his variations and ability to bowl at the death. Cutting perhaps have a better record against Richardson than any other bowler, smacking him for 46 runs from 15 deliveries he has faced in five innings. The only time the Renegades quick has got the better of Cutting was in 2016, when he had him dismissed off the very first ball.
The return for Aaron Finch for this match is a huge boost for the Rendgades and will come in handy when he is up against one of the fastest bowlers in the world, Adam Milne. The duo have come up against each other on five occasions in T20 cricket with Finch scoring at a strike-rate of 150, while the Kiwi fast bowler has dismissed the Australia captain just once. It promises to be an electrifying match-up right at the start of the innings.
Captain selection
With two fifties from three BBL 10 innings, Callum Ferguson should be the prime candidate to lead your team. The Thunder captain has scored 962 runs at 31.03 to go with a strike-rate of 128.3 in T20s since 2019, which includes six fifties and a hundred. Given his recent form, Ferguson could very well lead Thunder from the front once again.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Ferguson could score 13-36 runs in this match.
X-factors
Five wickets and an unbeaten 25-ball 65 against Heat not too long ago, Daniel Sams is another cricketer who you would not want to miss out on. A handy batsman at No. 7, plus his ability to pick up wickets at regular intervals makes him a real threat. While he is a wicket-taker, he could fetch you some bonus points with a few big hits down the order with the bat as well.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Sams could score 3-12 runs and pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.
Rilee Rossouw has had a brilliant year in T20s in which he has scored over 500 runs at a strike-rate of close to 145, which also included an unbeaten 44-ball 100 in the PSL. He scored 40-ball 59 in the previous game and will look to continue his good form in this crucial match for the Renegades.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Rossouw could score 12-29 runs in this match.
Having taken a break during the T20I series against India, Kane Richardson has returned to the BBL, where he has picked up five wickets in three matches already. Richardson had a good outing even in the previous season when he picked up 10 wickets from eight games at an economy rate of under seven. With him leading the attack this time around, he needs to be at his very best once again. He has certainly started off well.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Richardson could score 0-1 wickets in this match.
