BBL 13 | Adelaide Strikers vs Sydney Thunder Predictions

We look to analyse the markets in advance for Tuesday night’s Big Bash match, on a cool evening in Adelaide! 

Adelaide head into their first home match of the season after a no-result against the table-toppers - Brisbane Heat. Their opponents, Sydney Thunder, fell short to Brisbane Heat in a 20 run defeat on a testing pitch in Canberra. There are high expectations placed on the Sydney Thunder bowling attack as they possess 5-6 bowling options of good quality. The Strikers will be looking to put the bowling under pressure from ball one.  

Adelaide Strikers 

We are yet to see the Strikers in action this season which leaves small question marks on how they will approach this season. However, they have kept the BBL 12 Player of the Series - Matt Short. He is going to be a fundamental part of the Strikers' season and will be at the centre of any success that they gain this season. They have added English overseas, Jamie Overton and Davud Payne to their bowling stocks. Both are expected to start with Jamie Overton batting 6 or 7, he has proved for Surrey and Manchester Originals that he can clear a long boundary! D’arcy Short will be partnering Matt Short just behind Chris Lynn for Adelaide.  

Sydney Thunder 

We have had a chance to see Sydney this season on a poor wicket in Canberra. They struggled to chase down a 151 total from the Heat. Key points to take away from the game is that Ollie Davies will be an aggressor and Cameron Bancroft may be slightly more aggressive than expected. Liam Hatcher has been signed from the Stars and he will be bowling rockets, this has potential to be very friendly for batters on a good wicket. Farooqi has been replaced by the Pakistani bowler, Zaman Khan, who has a side-arm action that can make clearing him for boundaries very difficult if he nails the right length.  

Adelaide hold a positive record at their home stadium, winning 38 of 69 games in BBL history. Back them to win at 1.83 with Topsport 
 
Adelaide averaged 156 runs per innings last season, but they averaged just 151 runs per innings in all Head to Head matchups against the Thunder.  
 
Alex Hales is 71 runs away from being Sydney Thunder’s all time top run scorer, the leader is Usman Khawaja. 50+ Runs is 3.85 with Topsport 
 
 
Sydney average 161 runs when they bat 1st, but just 129 runs when they bat 2nd.  

Jamie Overton is certainly a player to watch for the Strikers. He will be carded at 6 or 7 which should give him a role to play with the bat, especially at the death. He can be taken for Adelaide top bat @ 13.00 with Topsport  
 
Ollie Davies for the Thunder has shown good intent in BBL history and he will be sure to continue this style of play at Adelaide. He is available at 5.50 for top Sydney batter with Bet365 
 
D’Arcy Short will be one to watch for the wrong reasons, he has been in poor domestic form with 3 ducks already this season. 

I think this match will be toss dependent. I would certainly fancy Adelaide if they bat first, this is due to the very poor Thunder average in the 2nd innings - this was mentioned in the Stats Corner section. I would look to back Adelaide at 1.75+ with Bet365.
 
Elsewhere, Matt Short appeals to have a good match at home so I think the 9.00 price for a player of the match with Bet365 appeals to me.  

With the forecast looking clear, this is a great sign after the poor weather we had at the start of the BBL season. Both sides have players that will provide entertainment with the bat and ball. It should be a competitive contest with both sides going for the top 4 spots.