Who Will Win Stars vs Thunder, BBL 2018-19?
The third game of the Big Bash League 2018-19 will see Sydney Thunder go head-to-head with Melbourne Stars. The Manuka Oval in Canberra will be the venue for this match to be played on December 21. Live telecast is scheduled to start at 7:15 PM local time.
SYT vs MLS, BBL 2018-19: Where to Watch/Live Streaming
TV channels: Sony Six, Sony ESPN, BT Sport, Fox Sports, SuperSport, Seven Network
Live Streaming: Bet365, SonyLIV, Foxtel Sports, SuperSport Live
Toss Prediction
The Manuka Oval sports a pitch that has traditionally been a very good batting surface. Since the wicket at this ground is expected to remain unchanged across the 40 overs, the team that wins the 'bat flip' here in this match would be happy to bowl first.
Read on for team previews, betting odds, betting tips and match prediction for Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars, Big Bash League 2018-19....
Sydney Thunder Team News & Playing 11
SYT Team News
Sydney Thunder are expected to open their batting with Jos Buttler and Shane Watson who will be leading the team in this year's Big Bash League. Usman Khawaja and Pat Cummins are in the squad but they won't be available for this match as both are currently part of the Australian national team for the ongoing test series against India. Fawad Ahmed, Chris Green, Arjun Nair and Gurinder Sandhu will form the bowling attack for the Thunder.
SYT Key Players
Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Shane Watson are the big guns in this Sydney Thunder batting line-up. Buttler and Root are world-class batsmen and they are expected to complement each other perfectly. Both are very difficult to contain once they get going and so the Melbourne Stars will want to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Watson finished amongst the top five batsmen last season and the team will expect him to lead from the front once again. While Daniel Sams and Watson will be the main threats in this pace attack, Fawad Ahmed and Arjun Nair will be the team's best spin options. Sams will be the key man during the powerplay due to his ability to swing the ball upfront while Watson is likely to be more effective at the death. Fawad was the Thunder's best bowler last year with 12 wickets and the Stars may find the leg-spinner hard to score off.
SYT Recent Form
Sydney Thunder finished sixth on the points table last BBL season at the end of the league round with four wins and six defeats from ten matches. Their campaign did not have the best of starts as they were able to win just two of their first six encounters. They started to show a little more consistency towards the end but that did not help them progress into the playoffs.
Sydney Thunder Predicted Playing 11
Jos Buttler (wk), Shane Watson (c), Callum Ferguson, Joe Root, Jason Sangha, Daniel Sams, Arjun Nair, Chris Green, Gurinder Sandhu, Sam Rainbird, Fawad Ahmed
Melbourne Stars Team News & Playing 11
MLS Team News
Melbourne Stars will miss the services of Peter Handscomb who is currently away on national duty and Nic Maddinson, Dan Worrall and Seb Gotch who are all recuperating from their respective injuries. Pace bowler John Hastings was signed by Sydney Sixers this year before health issues forced him to retire from the game. As a replacement for Hastings, the Stars have roped in all-rounder Glenn Maxwell who is set to lead the team in BBL 2018. Travis Dean is in line to open the innings with Ben Dunk who will be taking up the wicketkeeping duties.
MLS Key Players
In terms of batting, Glenn Maxwell will hold the key for Melbourne Stars at the top while Marcus Stoinis and Dwayne Bravo will be the key figures in the middle order. Maxwell scored the most runs for the team last year - 299 runs which included three fifties - and the Stars will be hoping that their new skipper comes good with the bat this year as well. Stoinis and Bravo are powerful strikers of the ball and they could provide the fireworks towards the tail-end of the innings. Both will also have a big role to play with the ball. Stoinis has done really well for Australia in white-ball cricket while Bravo is one of the world's finest death bowlers. Scott Boland, Sandeep Lamichhane and Adam Zampa are the specialist bowlers in the side. The Stars will be counting on Boland to strike early in the powerplay while Zampa will look to tighten the screws in the middle overs.
MLS Recent Form
Melbourne Stars won the wooden spoon in the previous BBL edition as they finished at the bottom of the league standings with eight losses and just two wins from their ten matches. Facing a defeat in each of their first five matches made it very difficult for them to catch up with the other teams on the points table. The two wins that the Stars did manage to secure came against Melbourne Renegades and Hobart Hurricanes.
Melbourne Stars Predicted Playing 11
Ben Dunk (wk), Travis Dean, Glenn Maxwell (c), Marcus Stoinis, Nick Larkin, Evan Gulbis, Dwayne Bravo, Adam Zampa, Scott Boland, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jackson Bird
Dec 21, 2018
13:45 IST / 8:15 GMT
Manuka Oval - Canberra, Australia
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