Teams Status

Sydney Thunder

Fresh from the honour of ending Perth Scorchers’ unbeaten start to the season, Sydney Thunder notched another win on New Year’s eve, besting Adelaide Strikers on their own turf in what was the first of their back-to-back games, with the other being this one.

The fact that they did it without four players and after being hit by a Covid-19 outbreak was truly remarkable.

The star of the show once again was their 22-year-old starlet Jason Sangha, who smashed an unbeaten 55-ball 91 to power his side to 187 for 3. He even picked up a wicket in his sole over during Adelaide’s turn to bat, although the real star of the bowling unit was Daniel Sams for his 4 for 33.

The Thunder have won three of their last four and are clearly a team on the rise, thanks to their newfound gem in Sangha.

Alex Hales, Alex Ross, Tanveer Sangha, and Sam Whiteman — the quartet diagnosed with the virus — will again be out.

Adelaide Strikers

We’ve already told you half of the story of Adelaide’s last match. That part portrayed Sydney’s brilliance. The other half narrates the tale of Adelaide’s abysmal showing and it would not make a pretty reading for their fans.

Despite playing on their home ground and against opponents without several key players, Adelaide’s rut did not end. They weren’t that bad, to begin with, restricting Sydney to just 65-2 in the first 10 but then all hell broke loose in the final five overs, during which Sangha and Co bled them for an extraordinary 79 runs, which undid the containment job done in the first half of the innings.

The Strikers were okay at the start of the run chase but a lack of firepower – both in their top and lower orders – meant they weren’t genuinely in the game even if they did look okay on the scoreboard.

Jake Weatherald’s pedestrian 29-ball 31 when the target was a sizable 188 did not help and neither did the lower order’s complete no-show.

Adelaide have now lost six of their last seven and desperately need to find some inspiration.