Match: Perth Scorchers v Sydney Thunder
Date: 1 January, Sunday
Time: 6:15pm SGT/3:45pm IST/10:15am GMT
Competition: Big Bash League 2016/17
Venue: Western Australian Cricket Association, Perth
TV Channel: In Singapore, Star Cricket will provide the live TV coverage for the match.
Live streaming: Hotstar
Overview
Perth Scorchers are beginning the New Year at home, the WACA, where their pacers Mitchell Johnson and David Willey decimated Adelaide Strikers with five wickets between them after their batsmen put on 197 runs on the board in their opening game.
Scorchers are among the in-form, all-round squad in the ongoing season and positive results are deservedly following their way. Adam Voges-led team are sitting pretty on the second spot and a win on Sunday will likely take them to the top of the table.
England batsman Ian Bell has been in good form for the Scorchers as he has scored 110 runs in three matches. Michael Klinger and Mitchell Marsh have contributed as well. However, their only defeat came on the road against Sydney Sixers when the big guns failed to fire.
Scorchers will miss Ashton Agar, who clinched a last-ball victory for them against Melbourne Renegades on Thursday, as he will be out on international duty for the third Test against Pakistan. Opener Shaun Marsh needs to find form soon and help ease the pressure on the the middle-order.
On the other hand, defending champions Sydney Thunder have had a horrid campaign so far losing all the three matches they have played so far. Skipper Shane Watson, who joined the team on Wednesday after an injury layoff, did no difference as he was dismissed for 0 in their three-wicket defeat against Brisbane Heat.
Thunder opened their title defense with a nine-wicket thrashing against Sixers and they have not been able to recover since then. Eoin Morgan has been performing consistently but the likes of Ryan Gibson, Ben Rohrer and Andre Russell have let them down. Watson's men would badly want their star West Indies all-rounder to fire before the tournament slips away from them.
TV Schedule
Singapore: Star Cricket
India: Star Sports
US: Willow TV
UK: BT Sport 2
Australia: Network 10
South Africa: Supersport
Team News
Scorchers
Squad: Voges (c), S Marsh, Bancroft, Bell, Whiteman (wk), Klinger, M Marsh, Johnson, Agar, Richardson, Turner, Valente, Tye, Willey
Thunder
Squad: Watson (c),Rohrer, White, Morgan, Russell, Fawad, Cummins, Doran (wk), Gibson, Green, McKay, Patterson, Fawad, McDermot
