Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars: Knockout preview

Match facts

Who: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars

What: Knockout, KFC BBL|14

Where: Engie Stadium, Sydney

When: Wednesday, January 22. Bat flip at 6.45pm AEDT, first ball at 7.30pm AEDT

How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports 

Listen: ABC, SEN

Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here

Live scores: Match Centre 

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps

Officials: Donovan Koch and Phil Gillespie (field), Mike Graham-Smith (third), Simon Lightbody (fourth), Bob Stratford (match referee)

Final XIs

Sydney Thunder: David Warner (c), Hugh Weibgen, Matthew Gilkes, Sam Billings (wk), Ollie Davies, Chris Green, George Garton, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Andrews, Wes Agar, Tanveer Sangha

 

Ins: Tanveer Sangha, Ollie Davies, Wes Agar. Outs: Dan Christian, Sam Konstas (Test squad), Mohammad Hasnain

The Thunder have recalled Ollie Davies, with Hugh Weibgen elevated to open alongside skipper David Warner with Sam Konstas on Test duties. Leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha also returns to partner Tom Andrews and Chris Green, while fast bowler Wes Agar called up in place of Pakistan speedster Mohammad Hasnain and veteran Dan Christian.

Melbourne Stars XI: Sam Harper (wk), Tom Rogers, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran, Usama Mir, Mark Steketee, Doug Warren, Peter Siddle

 

Ins: Peter Handscomb, Doug Warren. Outs: Beau Webster (Test squad), Joel Paris

Peter Handscomb has been rushed start into the XI after only joining the Stars list yesterday as a replacement for Beau Webster, who has joined the Australian squad in the UAE ahead of their two-Test tour of Sri Lanka starting next week.

Handscomb's proficiency against spin has seen him come straight into the line-up with spinners proving much tougher to score off at ENGIE Stadium this season with an economy rate of 6.69 compared to 7.92 of their fast-bowling counterparts. That's also led to a recall for left-arm finger spinner Doug Warren to partner Usama Mir and potentially Glenn Maxwell, with left-arm quick Joel Paris making way.

Match squads

Sydney Thunder: David Warner (c), Wes Agar, Tom Andrews, Sam Billings (England), Ollie Davies, George Garton (England), Matt Gilkes, Toby Gray, Chris Green, Muhammad Hasnain (Pakistan), Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Tanveer Sangha, Hugh Weibgen

 

Ins: Toby Gray, Blake Nikitaras. Outs: Dan Christian, Sam Konstas (Test squad)

Leg-spinner Toby Gray and batter Blake Nikitaras come into the Thunder's 14-player squad. Veteran Dan Christian makes way while teenage sensation Sam Konstas has departed for Test duties ahead of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka.

Melbourne Stars: Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran (England), Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Jonathan Merlo, Usama Mir (Pakistan), Joel Paris, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mark Steketee, Douglas Warren

 

Ins: Peter Handscomb, Campbell Kellaway. Out: Beau Webster, Blake Macdonald

After being announced as a replacement player for Beau Webster, Peter Handscomb comes straight into the squad in place of the allrounder who has also departed for Test duties. Batter Campbell Kellaway also returns in place of Blake Macdonald.

What they said

Club news

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Top performers

Most Runs

BBL|14 BKT Golden Bat

Player	Total
1 Mitchell Owen M Owen	452
2 David Warner D Warner	405
3 Cooper Connolly C Connolly	351
4 Glenn Maxwell G Maxwell	325
5 Marcus Stoinis M Stoinis	311
6 Matthew Renshaw M Renshaw	280
7 Sam Billings S Billings	271
8 Max Bryant M Bryant	259

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Most Wickets

BBL|14 BKT Golden Arm

Player	Total
1 Jason Behrendorff J Behrendorff	17
2 Riley Meredith R Meredith	16
3 Tom Rogers T Rogers	16
4 Mark Steketee M Steketee	15
5 Lance Morris L Morris	15
6 Lloyd Pope L Pope	15
7 Ben Dwarshuis B Dwarshuis	14
8 Spencer Johnson S Johnson	13

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Most sixes scored

BBL|14

Player	Total
1 Mitchell Owen M Owen	36
2 Glenn Maxwell G Maxwell	27
3 Cooper Connolly C Connolly	19
4 Tim David T David	17
5 Matthew Renshaw M Renshaw	17
6 Max Bryant M Bryant	14
7 Josh Brown J Brown	12
8 Jake Fraser-McGurk J Fraser-McGurk	12

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Local knowledge

Rapid stats

• Sydney Thunder have won their last four BBL matches against the Melbourne Stars – a fifth consecutive win in this game would equal the Thunder's longest winning run against the Stars in the history of the competition (won five from December 2015 to December 2018).
• Melbourne Stars have won their last five BBL matches – the last time the Stars recorded a longer winning run in the competition was an eight-match span from December 2019 to January 2020.
• Melbourne Stars (15.1 per cent) and Sydney Thunder (14.7 per cent) have had batters play and miss at a higher percentage of their balls bowled than any other teams in BBL|14.
• David Warner has scored 24.8 per cent of the Sydney Thunder's runs when he's played in BBL|14, the best rate of any player for a team in the competition (minimum 3 innings).
• Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars) has a batting strike rate of 194.1 from 153 balls faced in BBL|14, the best of any player in the competition (minimum 30 balls faced).

What's on the line?

The season! We've reached the knockout stage, and it's win or go home for both teams. The winner of this match will stay alive in BBL|14 where they will face either Hobart Hurricanes or Sydney Sixers on Friday for a spot in the season decider. The loser will be out of the running for the BBL|14 silverware and left to rue what could have been.

KFC BBL|14 finals schedule

Qualifier: Hobart Hurricanes v Sydney Sixers, Ninja Stadium (Tuesday, January 21, 7.30pm AEDT)

Knockout: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars, ENGIE Stadum (Wednesday, January 22, 7.30pm AEDT)

Challenger: Loser of Qualifier v winner of Knockout (Friday, January 24, 7.15pm AEDT)

Final: Winner of Qualifier v winner of Challenger (Monday, January 27, 7.15pm AEDT)