.jpeg?im=Resize,height=373 "BBL Eliminator, Thunder vs Heat: Preview, Prediction and Fantasy Tips")
Gilkes' 74* makes the clash lopsided against Renegades
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Sydney Thunder canes Scorchers via Alex Ross’ blitzkrieg
Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars: The Numbers that Matter
A statistical preview of the BBL 12 opener between Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars
Can the nascent skipper bring back the golden days for Sydney Thunder?
Let us take a deep dive into the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the Sydney Thunder squad of 2022.
BBL 12 | Alex Ross signs two-year extension with Sydney Thunder
The Sydney Thunder have announced the signing of Alex Ross for two more years, enabling him to stay on until 2024 in the Big Bash League (BBL).
BBL 11 | Russell muscles Stars past Thunder as Alex Ross’ brilliant innings gets overshadowed
It was an Andre Russell show at the Sydney Showground Stadium, the home of the Sydney Thunder as he muscled his way to a brilliant unbeaten 42 off just 21 balls, smashing six gigantic sixes to lead his team Melbourne Stars to a comfortable six-wicket win with 17 balls remaining in the chase. However, when Russell had come to the crease, it wasn’t really comfortable as the Stars had lost to back to back wickets in the same over with Tanveer Sangha accounting for both settled men in Melbourne skipper Glenn Maxwell and opener Marcus Stoinis. From 83-2, the team in green were suddenly 83-4 and Russell had to play three dot balls to negotiate what was a double-wicket maiden over from the young leggie. But that was just the silence before the storm that was brought by Russell on the ground. In the very next over, Russell opened his account with a gigantic six to Nathan McAndrew. That was just the warm-up as the Jamaican hit 20 runs off the next over which was bowled by Daniel Sams. And suddenly the required rate which was climbing to almost nine when he joined at the crease, was down to less than run a ball within two overs. From there on, it was just formalities that were completed by Russell and his partner at the other end, Hilton Cartwright who remained unbeaten at 19 off 12 balls to get his team past the winning line with a comprehensive six-wicket win. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss, the Stars invited the Thunder to bat. Their decision was vindicated as they got three key wickets including that of Alex Hales just at the break of the first six overs. From 40-3 in 6.1 overs, Sam Billings tried to build resistance with Alex Ross but got out soon to leave the Thunder fending for themselves at 65-4 with all-rounder Daniel Sams at the crease to accompany Ross. As the going was already slow with 11.5 overs having gone past, the dup slowed it down even more in trying to build a platform. At one point, the Thunder were 88/5 in 15 overs, not being able to strike even at six runs per over. But things started to change from there onwards. Ross, who was batting at 28 off 27 balls at the end of the 15th over peaked at the right time and hit 49 runs off the next 22 balls that he faced. Sams, who was batting at 8 off 10 balls also hit 14 off the eight balls that he faced to guide Thunder to 151-5 at the end of 20 overs. The men in florescent green scored 73 runs in the last five overs.
BBL 11 | Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Sandhu shine in Thunder's win over Heat
Alex Ross was at his very best with the bat as he guided Sydney Thunder to an easy seven-wicket win over Brisbane Heat in their opening clash of the Big Bahs League 2021. Ross’ unbeaten 61 off 46 balls combined with Sam Billings’ 45 not out and their 109 run partnership meant that Thunder chased down the total in the 18th over itself. This win with 17 balls remaining will give a boost to the net run rate of the Thunder which becomes crucial at later stages of the league. The chase of 141 did not start well for the Thunder who were playing at their home ground of Manuka oval. Alex Hales, the controversial import from England was removed on the second ball of the innings by Xavier Bartlett. Soon, Liam Guthrie, who was playing his first game for Heat, struck twice in one over to remove Matthew Gilkes and Sam Whiteman and force Thunder into a rebuilding phase. It was then that Billings combined with Ross and the duo finished the job at hand with much ease. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss and deciding to field first, Nathan McAndrew gave a great start to the Thunder as he removed Max Bryant in the third over. Daniel Sams then removed Chris Lynn. Englishman Ben Duckett and Sam Heazlett then built a partnership of 83 runs in 66 balls and just when it seemed that they would tee off and get Heat to a respectable total past 160, Sams struck again and removed Heazlett. It was then the turn of Gurinder Sandhu as he removed two dangermen Duckett and Jack Wildermuth to push Heat into all sorts of trouble. If it weren’t for Bartlett’s late order hitting, where he made unbeaten 26 off 18 balls, getting to even 140 would have been mighty difficult.
Match Report: Spinners and McAndrew take Thunder past the Hurricanes at Perth
Sydney Thunder consolidated their position at the top of teh Big Bash League 2020 points table after they beat Hobart Hurricanes by a handsome margin of 39 runs at the Perth Stadium. With this win, the Thunder bounced back to winning ways, having been beaten by the Heat comprehensively in their last game. On the other hand, Hurricanes tasted their second defeat in a row, this one a bit sour than a fighting loss against the Stars at home. Callum Ferguson led side is now at the top of the table with six wins in eight games and 22 points in their kitty, one more than crosstown neighbors Sixers, who are at 21 points, having been romped by Scorchers in their last game. Hurricanes though got a boost point and pushed the tally of their points to 19 in nine games with five wins and four losses. Dawid Malan's dismissal the turning point Hurricanes were going nicely after the dismissals of the openers D’Arcy Short and Ben McDermott as Dawid Malan and skipper Handscomb threaded a 40 ball 48 runs partnership. However, just as they were looking to accelerate, Chris Green yorker got the better of Malan. The score was 91 and the Hurricanes’ downfall began from thereon. After the fall of that wicket, within a span of 25 runs, the Hobart side lost five crucial wickets and could never recover back to challenge the Thunder. Sangha, Green, and Nair spin a web Though it all started with the Malan wicket, even before he lost his wicket, Malan wasn’t looking like himself in the middle as he had struggled to 20 from 23 balls. This was because of the fact that he was not able to read either Green or Sangha. Soon after Malan’s dismissal, Sangha flighted Handscomb, the Hurricanes’ skipper back to the pavilion as he was stumped by Sam Billings after coming out of the crease on the first delivery of a fresh spell from the 19-year-old. Just a while afterward, a soft dismissal on a wayward delivery from Arjun Nair got out dangerman Tim David and the bandwagon followed as one after the other Colin Ingram, Macalister Wright, and Nick Winter were dismissed. Ingram, became Snagha’s 15th BBL 10 scalp taking him to the top of the 'most wickets' tally for this season. He got past Strikers’ main paceman Wes Agar, who has 14 scalps. McAndrew the breakthrough man Into the chase, the Hurricanes had got off to a solid start by their openers McDermott and Short. They had added 36 for the first wicket in just four overs and were looking to loosen up. It was at that time that Nathan McAndrew threw in a short ball that hurried on to Short, getting him caught at short midwicket. Soon after, McAndrew also got McDermott out and hindered the flow of runs of the Hurricanes, resulting in building pressure over the new batters like Malan and Handscomb. It was these two wickets by McAndrew at the right moment which got him the Man of the Match Award. He finished with figures of 2/25 from his four overs. Ross and Cutting: The pair that got Thunder back into the attack Earlier in the day, Hurricanes after winning the toss, put Thunder to bat first and did well to get wickets at quick intervals, especially after a brisk start by Hales and Khawaja. From 59 for none to 110/5, the Hurricanes brought themselves back into the game courtesy of their spinners Sandeep Lammichhane and Short, who in the period of 7-15 overs went for just 49 runs and got four wickets. But after their spell was done, comeback man Alex Ross along with all-rounder and big hitter Ben Cutting got into the act, scoring 56 of the last five overs and taking the score to a competitive 167, which eventually turned out to be a winning score. Ross made 44 off 33 while Cutting smoked 31 off just 14 balls, which included four boundaries and a six. What's Next? In the next game at Perth itself, the Thunder would be up against a 'rejuvenated and on a winning trail' Perth Scorchers on Saturday, 09th January. Hurricanes on the other hand have a long four-day rest, which is actually needed after back-to-back losses. They would come back to play Scorchers at the Docklands in Melbourne on the 12th of January.