Sydney Thunder host Melbourne Renegades with very different incentives. David Warner’s side became the first team in the competition to be knocked out of finals contention, and their latest game ended in a seven-wicket defeat to Brisbane Heat when the bowlers could not defend a decent total.
Warner will look to give the top order a platform alongside Matthew Gilkes, with Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings and Nic Maddinson in the middle and Daniel Sams and Chris Green as finishers. David Willey and Ryan Hadley are tasked with early breakthroughs, while Green, Wes Agar and Tanveer Sangha try to control the middle overs.
Will Sutherland’s Renegades are seventh in the standings after an eight-wicket loss to Melbourne Stars and need a big win to lift their net run rate. Josh Brown batted well in that game and should open with Tim Seifert, while Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mohammad Rizwan and Caleb Jewell must build partnerships. Brendan Doggett and Jason Behrendorff are expected to lead the bowling, supported by Gurinder Sandhu, Callum Stow and Hassan Khan.