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Sydney Thunder take on Melbourne Renegades in the penultimate group match of the 2021-22 Big Bash season.
The game is scheduled for 4:10pm local time (5:10am GMT) on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
The game will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Melbourne Renegades sit at the foot of the table on net run rate and will be targeting a win against Sydney Thunder to avoid a third successive wooden spoon.
They were narrowly defeated by the Hobart Hurricanes in their most recent outing, losing by six runs. However, captain Aaron Finch (75 off 52 deliveries) and Shaun Marsh (51 off 38 deliveries) showed good form, sharing a 101-run partnership for the second wicket.
Cameron Boyce and Josh Lalor were key with the ball against the Hurricanes, both posting figures of 2 for 37. However, the Rengades bowling attack has been expensive all season and Tim David (46 off 20) showed how easy it is to take advantage of them at the death.
Sydney Thunder have qualified for the playoffs. They will be looking to finish the group stage and potentially steal second place from cross-city rivals Sydney Sixers, particularly after suffering a 60-run defeat at the hands of their neighbours in their last match.
Defeat would leave the Thunder on a three-match losing streak heading into the play offs which would be a concern.
Nathan McAndrew was impressive with the ball in hand against the Sixers, posting figures of 2 for 30 off 3 overs. Many of the other Thunder bowlers faced some serious punishment from the Sixers batsman.
Chris Green batted well with a brave half-century despite coming in a losing cause. The Thunder will be hoping that the highly impressive Alex Hales and Jason Sangha will be able to return to form as they are crucial in the batting performance of the side.
Aaron Finch [Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images]
Melbourne Renegades will be hoping Aaron Finch can continue his fine run of form. The T20 World Cup-winning captain has passed 35 four tmes in his past six innings, including half-centuries against Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurrincanes.
And with Mohammad Hasnain no longer available for Thunder, he and his top-order teammates will feel confident of avoiding the kind of powerplay onslaught often produced by Thunder in BBL11.
Umpires will appear here when available.
Sunny conditions are expected in Melbourne with temperatures hovering around the mid 20s.
Melbourne Renegades: Cameron Boyce, Unmukt Chand, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Zahir Khan, Josh Lalor, Nic Maddinson (Jono Merlo), Shaun Marsh (James Seymour), Mohammad Nabi, James Pattinson, Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Reece Topley
Sydney Thunder: Sam Billings, Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Usman Khawaja, Saqib Mahmood, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain, Mohammad Hasnain
Jason Sangha is Sydney Thunder's leading run-scorer [Mike Owen/Getty Images]
Melbourne Renegades: Aaron Finch, James Seymour, Shaun Marsh, Unmukt Chand, Jono Merlo, Sam Harper, Will Sutherland, Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Josh Lalor, Zahir Khan
Sydney Thunder: Matthew Gilkes, Alex Hales, Jason Sangha, Alex Ross, Ollie Davies, Usman Khawaja, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Tanveer Sangha, Gurinder Sandhu
Sydney Thunder are the favourites for this match. They are available at 4/9 while Melbourne Renegades are 7/4.
Sydney Thunder may have one eye on the playoffs, so may not be fully focused for the game against the Renegades. However, the quality of Hales, Sangha and Gilkes will be too much for the Renegades bowlers.
Sky Sports have bought the rights for the competition through to 2025, and they will broadcast all 61 games in the UK.
Fox Sports and Seven Network both have television rights in Australia: subscription broadcaster Fox show every game, while free-to-air Seven will simulcast 45 matches.
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will have ball-by-ball radio coverage of the tournament for UK listeners.
Where can I watch the competition elsewhere in the world?
North America: Willow
MENA: beIN Sports
Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport
Indian Subcontinent: Sony
New Zealand: Sky Sport
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