Richard Mann is rolling the dice at big prices when Sydney Thunder travel to face champions Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash on Tuesday.
Cricket tips: Hobart Hurricanes v Sydney Thunder
0.5pt Daniel Sams top Sydney Thunder batsman at 20/1 (Sporting Index, Spreadex)
0.5pt Chris Green top Sydney Thunder batsman at 33/1 (10bet)
In a repeat of last year’s final, Hobart Hurricanes host Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash on Tuesday morning.
I'd expect the Hurricanes to again prove too strong, with their powerful batting line-up led by Mitchell Owen a fearsome proposition, especially at home.
There is so much quality and depth in that home batting unit, and the likes of Ben McDermott, Nikhil Chaudhary and Tim David are hardly back numbers.
No Warner for Thunder
I’m not sure Thunder can match the Hurricanes for batting power, more so now following confirmation that David Warner misses this match through injury.
The Thunder skipper is a big loss at the top of the order, and I’m keen to throw a couple of darts at the TOP SYDNEY THUNDER BATSMAN market at big prices.
I’ll start with DANIEL SAMS (20/1), fit again having missed the majority of last season, though not before blitzing an unbeaten 42 from only 18 balls in Thunder’s opening game against Adelaide Strikers.
Likely to bat in the middle order, Sams is a fine all-rounder, a powerful striker of the ball who is perfectly suited to the Power Surge which is usually taken towards the end of the batting innings.
Sams is up to speed having played plenty of franchise cricket over the past couple of months, and I note with interest that in the 2023/2024 Big Bash campaign, he made a breezy 25 on this ground.
Gamble on Green
Top scorer for the Thunder that night was CHRIS GREEN, who rifled 33 not out in a losing cause.
Since then, Green’s batting has really improved and last summer, he made two centuries in only four appearances for Lancashire in the County Championship, averaging 62.40 in an impressive stint in England.
I have Green down as a proper all-rounder nowadays, and he was batting as high as number six for New South Wales at the beginning of the latest Sheffield Shield campaign.
Like Sams, Green becomes a key man in this Thunder batting line-up while Warner is on the sidelines, and anything around the 25/1 mark looks worth a dart. 10bet go 33/1.
Posted at 10:50 GMT on 15/12/25
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