Two teams with slightly similar losses in their first game at the hands of the same opponent would look to bounce back from that in the second match where they are up against each other. While Brisbane Heat lost its plot in the middle of the first innings and couldn’t really get going, Thunder lost too many wickets early on in their chase and couldn’t catch up with the asking rate later on.
Brisbane were not at all stable in their innings against the Stars with wickets falling at regular intervals and not even a single batsman going on to finish the innings. The likes of skipper Chris Lynn, foreign import Dan Lawrence and senior pros Tom Cooper and Jimmy Pierson need to take responsibility and provide stability to the batting lineup in the middle.
The Heat bowlers more or less tried their best and accurate to an extent. Thus it is the batting that has to stand up and punch at least to its weight if not above it, making sure that the bowlers are well backed up.
In their previous encounter against the stars, the Sydney team had done well to restrict a fiery brigade like the one led by Glenn Maxwell to under 170. Their top-order also rose to the occasion and even after Usman Khawaja failing as an opener, the foreign recruit Alex Hales and skipper Callum Ferguson were able to resurrect the innings and were knocking on the doors of victory at one point in time with 56 runs required from 32 balls and eight wickets in hands.
However, just as both Ferguson and Hales were removed, the lower middle order couldn’t just rally behind to close in on the win, losing the plot from there on and eventually falling behind by 22 runs.
It is here that the likes of Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, and Daniel Sams have to pull-up their socks and put in the efforts required from their side and take the team to victory.
Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra
Date and Time: December 14, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT
Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV
These two teams would have the best knowledge of the pitch in the capital as they have both been part of the two matches that have taken place there so far. The pitch has looked like a wicket with something for everyone if the people applied their skills well. It is not a flat deck as has been the case in T20s, but it’s not even a burial ground for batters. This is actually the kind of wicket that teams look forward to.
Throughout the summer, Canberra has really been an ideal place for cricket and it would be similar tomorrow as well. The cloud cover in the evening is supposed to be around 60% helping the faster bowlers with the swing early on. There are no chances of rain, however, it would be chilly in the evening as the forecasted temperature is to be around 13 degrees celsius.
The toss, therefore, becomes as the team winning the toss would look to bowl first and chase the target.
The Heat for sure are missing their foreign recruits in the form of Tom Banton and Mujeeb-Ur- Rahman along with the locals in Mitchell Swepson and Marnus Labuschagne. But it’s not them alone, therefore they would have to make do with the resources that they have. In such a scenario, it is likely that they would go in with the same xi as the last time.
Chris Lynn (c), Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Daniel Lawrence, Tom Cooper, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Simon Milenko, Jack Wood, Xavier Bartlett, Ben Laughlin, Matthew Kuhnemann
Thunder looked good with both the bat and the ball and hence changing the tried and tested XI would have no logical explanation, in that case, until all the players are available, we can see them going in with the same XI as in the last game.
Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (c), Baxter Holt (wk), Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Jonathan Cook, Tanveer Sangha
Alex Hales (c), Chris Lynn (vc), Callum Ferguson, Daniel Lawrence, Jimmy Peirson, Daniel Sams, Simon Milenko, Chris Green, Jack Wood, Tanveer Sangha, Ben Laughlin
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