Recent form
The Adelaide Strikers showed a lot of promise in the last season of the BBL by reaching the finals. They were beaten by the Sydney Sixers but will be hoping to do better.
Their squad this year has plenty of talented batters, including Travis Head.
Head is currently representing Australia against the West Indies at home.
He is likely to be a part of the squad that will play against visiting South Africans and hence, might be unavailable.
So, Chris Lynn and Colin de Grandhomme will have to take responsibility for the batting.
Lynn is the highest run-getter of the BBL with 3005 runs in 100 innings at a strike rate of 148.83.
Another batter to watch out for is Matt Short, who was the second-highest run-getter for the Strikers, collecting 493 runs at 155.52.
There bowling will rest on experienced fast bowler Peter Siddle ended the last season with 30 wickets.
They also have leg-spinner Rashid Khan who will be a trump card.
The Sydney Sixers have been in fine form in recent years.
They won the 2019-20 and 2020-21 editions and ended up as the runners-up of the last season.
The Sixers are easily one of the strongest teams in the competition.
The inclusion of James Vince gives their batting unit more solidity.
Vince has played 311 games making 8339 runs at an average of 30.65 and a strike rate of 134.32.
Another great addition is Kurtis Patterson, who finished last season as the Perth Scorchers’ highest run scorer.
Adelaide Strikers Playing 11:
Chris Lynn, Jake Weatherald, Matt Short, Adam Hose, Colin de Grandhomme, Harry Nielsen (wk), Rashid Khan, Ben Manenti, Peter Siddle (c), Wes Agar, Henry Thornton
Sydney Sixers Playing 11:
James Vince, Josh Phillipe (wk), Daniel Hughes, Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Hayden Kerr, Dan Christian, Steve O’Keefe, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis
Adelaide Strikers & Sydney Sixers Complete squad
Adelaide Strikers squad:
Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Colin de Grandhomme, Adam Hose, Thomas Kelly, Rashid Khan, Chris Lynn, Ben Manenti, Harry Nielsen (wk), Matt Short, Peter Siddle (c), Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald
Sydney Sixers squad:
Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Daniel Hughes, Josh Kann, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Izharulhaq Naveed, Stephen O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince
Weather and Venue Conditions
The Adelaide Oval has traditionally been a really good batting wicket. The ball should also come on nicely to the bat.
There is no rain expected. The weather during the day of the match is expected to be cloudy and cool.
The average score batting first at the Adelaide Oval is 165.
The highest total at the venue is a massive 232-5 by Sydney Thunder.
The team batting first should be looking to post a total of around 175-185 runs.
Teams batting first have won 37 of the 62 domestic T20 games here.
This is the first match of the season here and hence team winning the toss is likely to bat first.
Head to Head
Prediction:
Sydney Sixers will win the match
