Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars, BBL T20 2022, Today Match Prediction 13 December 2022

syt vs mls Match Prediction & Analysis

Sydney Thunder finished at number 3 and were eliminated from the playoffs in the Knockout match against Strikers in the last season. Melbourne Stars won both of their matches against SYT last year and will be eager to continue their dominance.

The two teams will be meeting at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. With some big-hitting players on both teams, it promises to be a fitting start to the new Big Bash season.

Sydney Thunder have a new captain in Chris Green this year while Melbourne Stars have roped in the star T20 bowler from NZ, Trent Boult.

This season, fewer players will be seen in the bowling department of the Stars. Not much has changed in the batting department and it is only their performance that can help them turn things around from last year.

Sydney Thunder look stronger and sharper with a few changes in their squad and even they have kept their core intact.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Sydney Thunder Preview

Sydney Thunder is one of the top-performing teams in the Big Bash League with a strong overall squad. They have a deep batting lineup with a solid pace attack that delivers consistently.

A key change in their squad from last year is the exclusion of former skipper and opening batsman Usman Khawaja. While Chris Green will be in the captain’s role this season, SYT have roped in Rilee Rossouw into their squad.

This along with the return of David Warner adds a lot of strength to their batting lineup. There is also Alex Hales who’s had a great international season with England lifting the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Daniel Sams will be the one to watch out for in the finisher’s role lower down the order. There’s no Ben Cutting in the squad this time around and as such, Chris Green, Alex Ross, and Daniel Sams will have the responsibility for finishing the innings for Sydney Thunder.

The team has also let go of Sam Billings and will be backing Matthew Gilkes to Baxter Holt to lead the charge in the middle order. 

The two key bowlers in the SYT squad, Tanveer Sangha and Nathan McAndrew will continue to lead the bowling attack. A key addition to the Thunder this year is the right-arm leg-break bowler, Usman Qadir.

Sydney Thunder Predicted Playing XI:

Alex Hales, David Warner, Matthew Gilkes (wk), Baxter Holt, Olivier Davies, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green (c), Tanveer Sangha, Usman Qadir

Sydney Thunder Actual Playing XI:

Alex Hales, RR Rossouw, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Matthew Gilkes, Brendan Doggett, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Green, Oliver Davies, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Melbourne Stars Preview

Glenn Maxwell must have been gutted after missing out on the playoffs spot last year. His team finished at number 6 with 26 points with 7 wins and 7 losses.

Adelaide Strikers with 6 wins and 8 losses finished at number 4 with two more points than Melbourne Stars and made it to the playoffs.

That was possible due to the new rules of BBL that came into existence a couple of seasons ago. Maxwell would not like things to repeat in this season and to better start with a winning run.

They have a good head to head record against SYT having beaten them in both home and away matches last year. With the inclusion of Trent Boult, Stars are definitely looking lethal as far as the bowling is concerned.

They have cut down on the list of bowlers who were part of the squad last season. Liam Hatcher, Boult, and Coulter-Nile will lead the pace attack while Zampa will hold the key to success in the spin department.

Maxwell is also a key spin bowler and adds more variety in the MLS bowling attack. If Maxwell gets bowling all-rounder Luke Wood in the playing XI, he will have a great deal of bowling options along with a deep batting lineup.

Marcus Stoinis will be a key player in the batting department to watch out for. Nick Larkin, Joe Clarke, and Hilton Cartright are other impact players in the Melbourne Stars batting lineup.

Melbourne Stars Predicted Playing XI:

Marcus Stoinis, Joe Clarke (wk), Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Luke Wood, Beau Webster, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Liam Hatcher

Melbourne Stars Actual Playing XI:

Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Luke Wood, Nick Larkin, Joe Clarke, Hilton Cartwright, Joe Burns, BJ Webster, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Thomas Fraser Rogers

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It is a good batting wicket at Manuka Oval and offers good bounce and carry. Historically, the batters have enjoyed playing at this venue with the pitch favouring them. The weather in Canberra on the match day is expected to be mostly sunny with a high of 18 degrees Celsius.

Venue Details

Manuka Oval in Canberra will host the season opener between Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars. The average 1st innings score at this venue is 169 runs and only 4 times has a team scored below 150 runs at this venue. We expect a high-scoring encounter in the opening match of the BBL 2022-23 season.

Toss: To Bowl

Teams batting second have won 12 of the 19 domestic T20 matches played at the Manuka Oval. Both teams have some big hitters in the side capable of chasing down a total. It would be in the best interest of both sides to opt to bowl first on winning the toss.