Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Renegades Predictions: BBL10 14th Match Preview

With the tournament warming up, we now turn to two teams who are separated by one win and a whole lot of net run rate. Sydney Thunder have had a good start, and after watching their fellow Sydney team thrash the Renegades, they will be looking to pull off a similar feat to move further up the table. The Renegades on the other hand must be struggling to keep their morale up after two big losses. Both teams have been underdogs over the years, and now, one might pull away, or the other might even the odds. Before the broadcast begins, let’s take a look at the two teams.

Sydney Thunder Predicted XI, Preview, Form, and Key Players

Predicted XI: Callum Ferguson (c), Oliver Davies, Ben Cutting, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt (wk), Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Adam Milne, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha.

After finally qualifying for the playoffs last year following three bad seasons, ST look like they want to better that record this year. In their last match, they beat the struggling Perth Scorchers to keep their hopes of being in the top half of the table not only alive, but kicking. Although their performance with the ball wasn’t anything extraordinary, Adam Milne was superb to concede only 17 off his 4 overs, and Ben Cutting also did brilliantly to take 16 for 1 off 3. Chasing a very average target of 152, Thunder survived the early scare of losing star batsman Alex Hales when captain Callum Ferguson steadied the ship with 61 off 53, and Oliver Davies and Ben Cutting cracked 36 and 29 respectively. Thunder’s win came with 7 wickets and 3 deliveries in hand.

ST Key Players

Callum Ferguson: It’s less about his last performance with the bat and more about what he means to Sydney Thunder right now. A good captain is simply better when he leads from the front every now and then.

Ben Cutting: The Aussie with the interesting name hasn’t been in the best of form with the bat lately, but an allrounder having a good day is always a big boost to the team they belong to.

Daniel Sams: The hero of one of Thunder’s wins, Daniel Sams has the potential to repeat that success.

Adam Milne: The Kiwi quick has plenty of firepower, and after the last match, ST might notice him more.

Melbourne Renegades Predicted XI, Preview, Form, and Key Players

Predicted XI: Shaun Marsh (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Beau Webster, Sam Harper (wk), Josh Lalor, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Mohammad Nabi, Rilee Rossouw, Noor Ahmad, Peter Hatzoglou.

Even this early in the season, if Melbourne want to eventually qualify for the second round, they will almost certainly have to do so on points - that’s how bad their net run rate is. The way they’ve been playing, though, they don’t look like they will succeed in doing that. In their last match, MR were up against league leaders Hobart Hurricanes. After the opening pair failed, Sam Harper and Rilee Roussouw came out to push forward smartly, and although they couldn’t quite finish the way they might have wanted to, did well to take the team to 157. In the second innings, their bowlers fell way short of what was required of them. Only Noor Ahmad bowled decently for his 1 for 27, and it wasn’t long before the Hurricanes took the match with 6 wickets and 2.2 overs to spare.

MR Key players

S Marsh: The hero of their only win this year, Marsh needs to step up as both a captain and a batsman to help his team make progress.

Rilee Rossouw: The South African has plenty of strength and skill, and an inning such as the one in the last game would be most welcome.

Sam Harper: If Harper can pull off another big inning, except faster, the Renegades will have a better chance.

Mohammad Nabi: The Afghan powerhouse can make or break a game single-handedly, and MR could really use something like that right now. 

ST vs MR weather and pitch conditions

With high chances of a thunderstorm on Saturday, we might see a shortened game. This might also lead to the outfield being slippery or damp, with fielders having a hard time in case of the former, and the ball slowing down too much in case of the latter. In any case, let’s just hope that it’s not a no-result. 

With mostly moderate-to high scores scored at the Manuka Oval this season, a similar situation might be seen at this match. There’s a decent amount of favour for the bat, but it’s not dead for the bowlers either. If the batting team can score over 190, however, it should almost certainly be a win. 

Can Sydney Thunder electrify their opponents? Or will Melbourne Renegades manage to save themselves from sliding further down the table? Find out if our Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Renegades predictions come true on Saturday!