Friday’s only Twenty20 Big Bash Round 4 match is between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder. The opening ball is set to commence at 19:40pm with the game to be played at thefurnace. The home team Perth Scorchers are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder.

When: 19:40 | Friday 03/01/2014

Where: thefurnace

Perth Scorchers $1.59 vs Sydney Thunder $2.38 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Perth Scorchers $1.00 vs Sydney Thunder $1.00 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Perth Scorchers	1.59	1.55	1.57	1.55	1.59	1.60
Sydney Thunder	2.38	2.45	2.40	2.45	2.38	2.35

Teams:

Perth Scorchers T20 Squad
Marcus North(w), Ashton Agar,Tim Armstrong, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff,Nathan Coulter-Nile,Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Ben Edmondson, Herschelle Gibbs, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich,Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Alfonso Thomas, Tom Triffitt, Adam Voges, Albie Morkel

Sydney Thunders Squad
Michael Clarke(C), Sean Abbott, Azhar Mahmood, Cameron Borgas, Ryan Carters(w), Mark Cosgrove, Adam Coyte, Scott Coyte, Luke Doran, Chris Gayle, Adam Zampa, Martin Guptill, Usman Khawaja, Matt Prior, Rhett Lockyear, Chris Rogers, Simon Keen, Jason Floros,Daniel Hughes, Mike Hussey, Dirk Nannes, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain

Preview:

After being run down on New Year’s Eve in Adelaide, the Perth Scorchers return to their adoring home crowd to host their first match of 2014, against the desperate Sydney Thunder.

Overview
New Thunder captain Mike Hussey returns to his old stomping ground for what might be one of the very few times he’s had to use the opposition dressing rooms.

Hussey last week called for a stop to the media focus on the Thunder’s losing streak, and they looked on track to defend their total against the Stars on Wednesday night, only to be reeled in by wily Stars veteran Brad Hodge.

Perth bowled superbly in restricting the Melbourne Renegades to a score below their own modest total in their first home game of the year, and the big home crowd at the WACA loves nothing more than getting behind their team when on a roll.

The Scorchers have won four of their last five home games, with the only hiccup being a rather major one: the BBL|02 Final against Brisbane.

Key Battle: Simon Katich v Dirk Nannes
What looks to be a battle of the old stagers, Katich and Nannes’ experience for the respective sides can be invaluable at times, and thus, their head-to-head battle becomes a key component of the match.

With Katich opening, or coming in early at the very least, his ability to work the singles and put away the bad balls lays the platform for the Scorchers’ innings.

Likewise, Nannes pace and variations gives him the weapons to bring the Perth batting innings to its knees.

Dark Horse: Mike Hussey
Hardly a dark horse, is Mr Cricket, but his return to ‘the Furnace’ where he played the first two seasons of the BBL for Perth makes him a key player for his new side, and a key wicket for his former teammates.

He very nearly got the Thunder home against Adelaide a week ago, and his class was on show again against the Stars on Wednesday night in Sydney.

His ability to control an innings and lift the tempo as and when he needs to remains as sharp as ever, and he brings a real calming influence to his young Thunder team.

Last Time
January 4, 2013 @ the WACA: Perth cruised to a nine wicket win, chasing down a paltry target of 114 with more than six overs to spare.

Shaun Marsh (56) and Marcus North (39 not out) were relatively untroubled in the chase, brought about by a superb display of ‘chinaman’ bowling from evergreen cult hero Bradley Hogg, who took a phenomenal 4/29 from his four overs.

Usman Khawaja’s 56 was the only real point of Thunder resistance in an otherwise disappointing performance.

Facts and Figures
BBL Stats man, Lawrie Colliver, unveiled some interesting figures on Tuesday, where he highlighted that as at the completion of Round 2, the Perth Scorchers bowl more dot balls than any other team in the competition, at 48.7 percent of all deliveries.

Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Marsh were shown to be among the top four dot ball exponents, while Yasir Arafat bowled 17 dot balls from his four overs in taking 3/15 against the Renegades on Boxing Day.

Scorchers allrounder Nathan Coulter-Nile is featuring heavily on their stats sheets at the moment.

Now back on duty as injury cover for the Test team, Coulter-Nile heads Perth’s batting average, fastest scorer, and most sixes lists, and is running second to Mitch Marsh for most runs and highest score.

In the bowling lists, he has the most wickets and the leading strike rate, too.

The Thunder have three of the top ten scores thus far in BBL|03, with Mike Hussey responsible for two of those: 85 against Adelaide last week, and 66 against the Stars on Wednesday night. Usman Khawaja’s 66 against the Sixers in Round 1 is the other score.

England paceman Chris Tremain has come into the Thunder squad for this match, and is n line to make his BBL debut.

Broadcast
From 4:30pm local time, 7:30pm AEDT on Channel Ten, and on Fairfax Radio Network.

Source: www.theroar.com.au