The Sydney Thunder are embracing their underdog tag ahead of Friday’s Challenger against cross-town rivals the Sixers, with the men in lime green needing to break an eight-year drought at the SCG to qualify for their first Big Bash League final since 2016.
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The two Sydney-based clubs, who have never previously faced each other in a knockout match, will lock horns at the iconic venue to decide who will play the Hobart Hurricanes in Monday evening’s tournament decider at Bellerive Oval.
The Sixers are one of the competition’s most successful franchises, winning three titles and ten finals appearances, while the Thunder are perennial cellar dwellers with an unwanted record of five wooden spoons to their name.
However, batter Jordan Silk said the Sixers won’t be resting on their laurels ahead of the must-win clash, which gets underway at 7.15pm AEDT.
“In all our history, our record over the Thunder has been quite strong. We take a lot of belief from that. We’ve had the wood over them for a number of years,” Sixers batter Jordan Silk said.
“This year with (captain) David Warner back in the fold for the Thunder, (wicketkeeper) Sam Billings back around that group, they definitely line up a bit differently.
“You can never really take any game for granted and we’ll have to be absolutely at our best to knock them off tomorrow.”
The Sixers have won six consecutive matches against their Sydney rivals, while the Thunder haven’t won a BBL match against the men in magenta since January 2021 — the last time the Thunder toppled the Sixers at the SCG was way back in 2017.
However, the Thunder have drawn inspiration from Michael Hussey’s triumphant team that lifted the trophy in 2016 despite finishing fourth on the standings.
“Even the year we went on and won it, we were underdogs that year, and we had a great team. We’ve got a great team this season, and I think we come into this finals race still as underdogs,” Thunder all-rounder Chris Green told reporters on Thursday.
“I really back the way we’re playing; there’s a lot of belief within the group and there’s a lot of fight within the group that we can go on and win this match.”
SYDNEY SMASH TALE OF THE TAPE
17 – Sixers
7 – Thunder
2 – Abandoned
1- Tied
Thunder set up Sydney Smash Challenger | 04:08
At the start of the summer, Sixers captain Moises Henriques lit the fuse by declaring the Sydney derby was an “easy two points” for his club.
However, the Sixers’ victory in Homebush the following week proved anything but comfortable, with all-rounder Ben Dwarshius clobbering 15 runs in the final over of the chase to steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
Rain robbed the Thunder of their chance at revenge, with last week’s derby abandoned due to weather, but captain David Warner offered his rival skipper a word of warning ahead of the Challenger.
“No easy points here, Moises,” Warner said on Channel 7.
“It’s do or die.”
The Sixers will be without superstars Steve Smith, Sean Abbott and Todd Murphy after the star trio flew to the United Arab Emirates ahead of next week’s Test tour of Sri Lanka, while international signings James Vince and Akeal Hosein have also left the tournament.
Meanwhile, Henriques’ side suffered a 12-run loss to the Hurricanes during Tuesday’s Qualifier in Hobart, at one stage collapsing to 3-5 during the unsuccessful run chase.
“Knowing that their big dogs aren’t there, there’s no-one really scoring runs for them. I think we can put them under a lot of pressure,” Sangha continued.
“We’re never in the Sixers’ shadow. I think they’re always scared to face us.
“If we can try and do the same thing (as the Hurricanes), get early wickets, put pressure on them, I think they can be vulnerable.
“They’re expected to win. They usually beat the Thunder. I think we’re going to turn it around this year.”
RECENT SYDNEY SMASH RESULTS
Jan ‘25 — Abandoned
Dec ‘24 — Sixers won by 5 wickets
Jan ‘24 — Sixers won by 19 runs
Dec ‘23 — Abandoned
Jan ’23 — Sixers won by 125 runs
Jan ‘23 — Sixers won by seven wickets
Jan ‘22 — Sixers won by 60 runs
Dec ’21 — Sixers won by 30 runs
Knockout Finals full match highlights | 14:51
Spinners Tom Andrews, Green and Sangha have been central to the Thunder’s success this summer, with the trio dominating on Sydney Showground’s slow and dry deck.
However, the SCG surface has proven less conducive to spin this season, with slow bowlers averaging 46.62 at the venue compared to 21.04 at Sydney Showground. Meanwhile, the Sixers’ batters have averaged 45.25 against spin this season compared to 27.18 when facing the quicks.
Considering the conditions, the Thunder may be tempted to replace one of their spinners with Pakistani quick Muhammad Hasnain for the Challenger.
“It’s going to be hard for them to change that sort of line-up having had success (but) it’s a different proposition here, spin hasn’t played too much of a factor here this season as it has in the past,” Silk said.
“This season it’s tended to slide on a little bit more and we should be able to see some more free flowing play versus spin tomorrow night.
“All three of them are bowling well so we’ll have to be at our best.”
Meanwhile, the Sixers have unearthed a spin maestro of their own in English leggie Jafer Chohan, who claimed 2-28 in a stellar performance against the Hurricanes this week.
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