STA vs THU T20 Match Prediction & Betting Tips, BBL 2023
Saturday afternoon’s 2023-24 Big Bash League fixture sees Melbourne Stars go head to head with Sydney Thunder at the Lavington Sports Oval. Both teams have played two and lost two so far in this year’s competition and are desperate to get a win before Christmas. Read on as we preview this game. Match 12 of the tournament gets underway at 15:30 local time in Albury.
Nothing went well for Melbourne Stars with bat or ball in their last game against the all-conquering Perth Scorchers. As a result, the team were on the back foot throughout whereas in this game they could get on top of Sydney Thunder. Melbourne Stars certainly have a chance of victory in this match.
Sydney Thunder posted 200/7 against Adelaide Strikers yet still lost Match 8. Their batting line-up should come into this game with plenty of confidence against a Melbourne Stars line-up who have also struggled. Player for player, Thunder look like the team with more talent.
Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder T20 Match Live Streaming
TV channels:This game will be broadcast on Sky Sports Cricket, Fox Sports, Seven Network and the Star Sports Network.
Live Streaming: You can live-stream the match on Kayo, Sky Go and Disney+ Hotstar
STA vs THU Match Toss Prediction
With the forecast suggesting the players could be on and off during the first innings of the game, we predict that both captains will want to bat second and so will choose to field first if they win the toss.
STA vs THU Pitch Report
This pitch has never been the quickest in Australia and there is usually some inconsistent bounce. A par score will be no higher than 150.
Albury Weather Report
According to the weather forecast, there could be some thunderstorms during the first innings. After that, dry weather is forecast into the early evening.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds, and match prediction for Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder, BBL 2023
Melbourne Stars Team News & Playing 11
STA Team News
The team management are desperate to get captain Glenn Maxwell back into the team but they will not risk him coming back too soon due to the number of injuries he has suffered over recent years. Nathan Coulter-Nile remains unavailable with his calf injury.
STA Key Players
- Hilton Cartwright - The middle order batter has hit eight half-centuries across his T20 career and scored over 2000 runs from 93 innings in this format.
- Marcus Stoinis - The powerful all-rounder is leading the side in Glenn Maxwell’s absence but is yet to produce with either bat or ball. He is one of Australia’s best all-rounders in white ball cricket.
- Haris Rauf - The Pakistan pace bowler could be able to take advantage of the two-paced nature of this pitch in Albury. The 30 year old has taken 234 T20 wickets.
- Liam Dawson - The England all-format all-rounder has already contributed with both bat and ball for the Stars. If Stoinis needs to take the pace off the ball then the left-arm spinner will be his first option.
STA Team Form
Melbourne Stars have not just lost both their games but been beaten by 103 runs and by 7 wickets so far.
Melbourne Stars Predicted Playing 11
Sam Harper (wk), Thomas Rogers, Beau Webster, Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nick Larkin, Jonathan Merlo, Liam Dawson, Usama Mir, Joel Paris, Haris Rauf
Sydney Thunder Team News & Playing 11
THU Team News
We expect to see Jason Sangha to come back into the team for this game after he missed the high-scoring contest with Adelaide Strikers due to a wrist injury. Sangha will come back near the top of the order with Nathan McAndrew the favourite to return.
THU Key Players
- Cameron Bancroft - The 31 year old is not far from the Australia Test team due to his strong performances across all formats recently. He hit seven boundaries in the last match of BBL 2023.
- Oliver Davies - The young right-hander caught the eye last year with consistent batting displays. He comes into this match with two scores over 30 from his two innings.
- Tanveer Sangha - The Australia international leg-spinner got the big wicket of Matthew Short in Match 8 and will fancy his chances of causing problems on this pitch in Albury.
- Daniel Sams - The left-arm fast medium bowling all-rounder showed off his strong yorker and picked up a wicket with it in the last game. He has a strike-rate of 16.6 in T20 cricket.
THU Team Form
Sydney Thunder have lost two out of two but the margins have been by only 20 runs and by 6 wickets with performances which have given some encouragement.
Sydney Thunder Predicted Playing 11
Cameron Bancroft, Alex Hales, Jason Sangha, Oliver Davies, Matthew Gilkes (wk), Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Chris Green (c), Liam Hatcher, Zaman Khan, Tanveer Sangha
Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder Head to Head
Sydney Thunder trail 10-9 to Melbourne Stars in their overall head to head record but have won the last two games between the sides. They beat Stars by 3 wickets and by 1 wicket off the last ball in their two contests last season.
STA vs THU Head to Head Stats in T20s
| |
Matches Played |
STA Won |
THU Won |
Tie |
No Result |
| Overall |
19 |
10 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| Last 5 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder Betting Odds
The underdogs ahead of this game are Melbourne Stars who can be backed at 2.10 with the bookies. Sydney Thunder are the favourites to win at 1.66.
Who will win Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder T20 Match?
Both teams have underperformed so far in the tournament but that is not to say that they are two poor sides. Sydney Thunder should have been able to win after scoring 200 runs in their last game and we have them as the top team ahead of this game.
🏆 Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder Prediction
With only Hobart Hurricanes sandwiched between these sides in eighth and sixth in the BBL table, both teams have had disappointing starts and are yet to put some points on the board. Looking at the two teams, it would be a big shock if they were still towards the bottom of the table in a couple of weeks time but they need to get a first win to start moving upwards. It will come down to which batting line-up cna perform in Albury and we are backing Sydney Thunder’s batters to have a strong day and help their side win the game.
Sydney Thunder to beat Melbourne Stars
Dec 23, 2023
10:00 IST / 4:30 GMT
Lavington Sports Oval - Albury, Australia
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