THU vs STA Match Preview

The Melbourne Stars take on the Sydney Thunder at the Lavington Sports Oval on Saturday afternoon in the 2023-24 Big Bash League. Both teams have played two games and lost two so far this season and are desperate for a win before Christmas. The Melbourne Stars’ last game against the all-conquering Perth Scorchers did not go well with bat or ball. As a result, the team was always on the back foot, whereas in this game they had a chance to beat the Sydney Thunder. Despite scoring 200/7 against Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Thunder lost Match 8. Their batting lineup should be confident going into this game against a Melbourne Stars lineup that has also struggled.

THU vs STA Match Details

Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars – 12th Match

Venue: Lavington Sports Oval – Albury

Date & Time: 23th December 2023 at 10:00 AM IST 

Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar

THU vs STA Venue Stats

Avg 1st inn Score	150
Avg 2nd inn Score	145
Win% batting 1st	52
Win% batting 2nd	48

THU vs STA Pitch Report

In 2022, the average score was only 147 in T20 games. There will be some turn for the spin bowlers and some pace in the wicket for the quicks to exploit.

THU vs STA Weather Report

We can expect plenty of cloud cover and high humidity throughout this game on the evening.

THU vs STA Last Five Matches

THU ( Sydney Thunder )	L L L W L
STA ( Melbourne Stars )	L L L L L

THU vs STA Head-to-Head Stats

	Matches Played	THU Won	STA Won	Tie	NR
Overall	19	9	8	0	0
Last 5	5	3	2	0	0

Injury News

No Injury. Will be added when there is an update.

THU vs STA Probable Playing XIs:

Sydney Thunder Probable Playing XIs

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 Probable Playing XIs

Sam Harper (wk), Thomas Rogers, Beau Webster, Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nick Larkin, Jonathan Merlo, Liam Dawson, Usama Mir, Joel Paris, Haris Rauf

Topmost Picks for THU vs STA Dream11 Prediction:

Top Picks – Sydney Thunder

• 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.
• 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.

Top Picks – Melbourne Stars

• 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.
• Liam Dawson – The all-rounder has been in excellent form in white ball cricket over recent years and the England international has taken 191 wickets across his T20 career.

Suggested Playing XI N0.1 for THU vs STA Dream11 Team:

Cameron Bancroft, Alex Hales, Oliver Davies, Thomas Rogers, Hilton Cartwright, Beau Webster, Marcus Stoinis(C), Daniel Sams(VC), Zaman Khan, Tanveer Sangha, Haris Rauf

Suggested Playing XI N0.2 for THU vs STA Dream11 Team:

Cameron Bancroft(C), Alex Hales, Oliver Davies, Thomas Rogers, Hilton Cartwright, Liam Dawson(VC), Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Zaman Khan, Tanveer Sangha, Haris Rauf

Captain and Vice-Captain Options:

Captain – Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Bancroft

Vice-captain – Daniel Sams, Liam Dawson

Wicketkeeper – Cameron Bancroft

THU vs STA Probable Winners:

With only the Hobart Hurricanes sitting in eighth and sixth place in the BBL table, both teams have had disappointing starts and are yet to score. Looking at the two teams, it would be a surprise if they were still near the bottom of the table in a few weeks, but they need to get their first win to start moving up. It will come down to which batting lineup performs best in Albury, and we are betting on Sydney Thunder’s batters to have a good day and help their team win. Considering the team combination, Sydney Thunder is expected to win this match.