Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder Prediction

Team News

Shane Watson will be unavailable for Sydney Thunder in this match as well and Ben Rohrer will continue to lead in his absence. No changes are expected and the team are likely to retain the same eleven from last match.

Key Players

The big runs can be expected to come from the bats of Ryan Gibson, Eoin Morgan and Ben Rohrer. Gibson started off his season with a fifty against the Sixers and the team will want him to carry on with his good form. Fast bowler Clint McKay will be relied upon when it comes to bowling. He took the most wickets for Sydney Thunder last year and though he may have gone wicketless in the last game, we still predict him to trouble the Renegades on Thursday.

Recent Form

After a rather forgetful first four seasons, Sydney Thunder experienced a tremendous turnaround in their fortunes last season where they defied all odds to clinch their maiden title. But they did not have the kind of start they were looking for this season, losing to Sydney Sixers in the opening fixture. Their batsmen managed to pull off a decent total but they were let down by their bowlers.

Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder Head-to-Head

Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder have been up against each other five times in the past with the former emerging winners on four occasions while the latter have won just once. The Renegades have beaten the Thunder in their previous three meetings. The two sides have faced each other twice at the Docklands Stadium and both have won one game each.

Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder Betting Odds

Sydney Thunder are the reigning champions but they certainly haven’t played like champions whenever they have had Melbourne Renegades as their opponent. They have lost four out of the five games they have played against them in the past which includes defeats in the most recent three. Furthermore, the loss to Sydney Sixers have put Sydney Thunder as outsiders at 2.38 with 1xbet and 2.30 with bet365.

Melbourne Renegades will have the privilege of playing at their home ground. They will be more familiar with the conditions and they beat the Thunder the last time they took them on here. The Renegades are favorites to win this match at 1.71 with betfair and 1.66 with bet365.

Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder Prediction

Sydney Thunder have started off their title defence in a rather poor fashion, facing a crushing nine-wicket defeat by cross-town rivals Sydney Sixers in the season's opening game. First they suffered a middle-order collapse while batting and then their bowlers displayed a rusty performance later on. So the Thunder have quite a few issues to address ahead of this match.

Melbourne Renegades don't have any of these issues and they appear to be a well-balanced outfit with a reinforced spin attack with the addition of Narine and Hogg. They may have lost their previous five matches at this ground but they have almost always emerged as the more dominant side whenever they have played against Sydney Thunder.

Final Verdict: We recommend betting on the Melbourne Renegades to win this match.