Thunder eager to bring Sixers down a peg
JULIAN LINDEN THE Thunder have laughed off the Sixers’ claim that they are the top Big Bash team in Sydney by reminding their rivals who won their last meeting.
The Sixers are ahead on the ladder but the Thunder crushed them by 21 runs in their last Sydney Smash showdown at Spotless Stadium on Christmas Eve and are confi- dent of dishing out another beating at the SCG tonight.
All-rounder Chris Green said his team were even more motivated after the men in magenta scaled the Harbour Bridge to cheekily suggest they looked down on their Western Sydney rivals.
“Getting their photos on top of the bridge, I so want to give it to them,” Green said.
“For us, it’s always like playing against your little brother when we play the Sixers because we’re definitely the big brother.”
Thunder’s teenage wicketkeeper Baxter Holt said the fact all the players knew each other so well just made everyone more determined to win.
“We’re all from the state so we train very closely and we’re able to watch each other play and train most week so it’ll be a close game,” he said.
“I’m sure all the boys will try and get into each other but it’ll all be in good nature.”
The Sydney Smash is already the fiercest rivalry in BBL but the stakes are even higher for tonight.
The Thunder need to win to keep alive their semi-final hopes while a victory for the Sixers will guarantee them a playoff spot and possibly home-ground advantage.
“This is an opportunity to knock the Sixers off twice in one season but our main goal is to be alive going into our last game,” Green said.
“We’ve now got ourselves in a position where we probably have to win our last two games then wait and see what happens so we owe it to ourselves and our fans to put in two really big performances because there’s been a couple of games this season where we’ve been thereabouts and haven’t got over the line.”