Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

BBL09 Match 54: ST vs PS Dream11 Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | ST vs PS Dream11 | Sydney Thunder vs Perth Scorchers Preview Dream11 Prediction | Sydney Thunder vs Perth Scorchers Key Players | ST vs PS Dream11 Prediction Today

Huge game. After 54 games of BBL, and 13 each for these two sides, it comes down to this.

Sydney Thunder, in poor form, sit seventh on 11 points. Perth Scorchers, in more up-and-down form, sit fourth on 12 points.

A win for Thunder, as well as a loss for either Hurricanes tonight (or a tight Hurricanes win) or Heat tomorrow, will give them a top five finish. For Scorchers, their equation is more simple: win by any margin and qualify for the playoffs.

It is all to play for. Who will hold their nerve?

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

• Morne Morkel will make his BBL debut in a pressure-cooker situation. Can Morkel, with 202 wickets in 183 T20s, hit the ground running right away? He took at least one wicket in eight of his past 10 T20s in the Mzansi Super League.
• Josh Inglis and Liam Livingstone took Thunder apart in their meeting six days ago in Perth.
• Livingstone, with scores of 78 and 79 in his past two games, has shot up to fifth in the BBL09 run-scoring chart (409). Also, Livingstone’s leg spin could be useful on a slower Sydney Showground pitch.
• Alex Hales has been a shining light in a tough few weeks for Thunder. He has also shot up in the BBL09 run-scoring list, moving to six with 402. He has scores of 85 and 63 in his past two games, part of 280 runs in his past seven knocks at an avg. of 46.67.
• The loss of form of Usman Khawaja (0, 13, 11, 3 in his past four knocks) and Callum Ferguson (7, 7, 8*, 4, 12) has hurt Thunder.
• However, Ferguson was Player of the Match vs Scorchers twice last season, which included a vital 42 (30) on this ground.
• Ashton Turner is also struggling with poor form, for both state and country.
• Mitchell Marsh has 175 runs vs Thunder in five innings, with only one dismissal. He also has three wickets against them.
• Cameron Bancroft vs Thunder: 158 runs, avg. 58.00, SR: 122.54. His counterpart, Alex Ross, has four scores of 20+ in a row (32*, 51, 22*, 36).
• Daniel Sams is coming off four wickets vs Hurricanes. He leads BBL09 with 24 wickets. Chris Morris, like Sams, will also be key.
• Jhye Richardson has gone wicketless in his past two games. However, his last three games away from Perth have been superb: 1/19, 4/19, 3/22.
• Fawad Ahmed returns to the ground where he has played plenty of matches for Thunder. He has taken at least one wicket in eight of his past 10 innings.

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Head-to-Head

• Matches 10, Thunder 4, Scorchers 6.
• Thunder lead 2-1 at Sydney Showground, with the last meeting on this ground a thrilling one-run win for Thunder.

Possible Playing 11

Sydney Thunder have made no changes to their 13-man squad from their very poor performance two days ago in Hobart. Gurinder Sandhu, who went for 46 in three overs, could be left out for Chris Tremain.

Indeed, Thunder need to focus on their strength, which is spin. Nair, Cook and Bowe should all play.

Sydney Thunder: 1. Usman Khawaja, 2. Alex Hales, 3. Callum Ferguson (c), 4. Alex Ross, 5. Jay Lenton (wk), 6. Chris Morris, 7. Daniel Sams, 8. Arjun Nair, 9. Chris Tremain, 10. Jono Cook, 11. Liam Bowe

For Perth Scorchers, Morne Morkel comes in for Chris Jordan, who has left for England duty.

Also, another issue for Scorchers is how they get the most out of both Kurtis Patterson and Cameron Bancroft.

Perth Scorchers: 1. Josh Inglis (wk), 2. Liam Livingstone, 3. Kurtis Patterson, 4. Mitchell Marsh (c), 5. Ashton Turner, 6. Cameron Bancroft, 7. Ashton Agar, 8. Jhye Richardson, 9. Matt Kelly, 10. Morne Morkel, 11. Fawad Ahmed

Sydney Showground Pitch Report and Conditions

The Sydney Showground pitch is typically on the slower and lower side. With this being an afternoon game, with numerous matches played on the ground this season, a slower pitch could be the case.

However, there is a chance of rain on Sunday afternoon in Sydney. This could impact the match.

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Dream11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

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• 6 tips to increase chances of winning in Dream11
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• Pros and cons of Dream11’s deadline decision

Match Prediction

Huge game, with significant implications in the make-up of the top five. Scorchers are in the better form, but as Heat’s big win last night showed, anything is possible.

However, if both team’s big guns fire, the Scorchers should finish on top given the slightly extra firepower they have in their team.

Thanks for reading!

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