BBL 23-24 Prediction: Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder 12/23

Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder is on! They will come against each other for the second match on Friday, December 22, 2023. This match will be played at the Lavington Sports Ground, Hamilton Valley, New South Wales at 11:30 PM Local time.

Stars have a poor start to their BBL campaign this season sitting right at the bottom on the points table. While Thunder also started their BBL season will 2 losses and both teams will be looking to grab their maiden win.

This blog will analyze the recent performances of both the Thunder and Stars teams, their past head-to-head matches, the Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder prediction, and the favorite team to win the match.

Stars vs Thunder Head to Head Comparison

Here is an overall past Head-to-head record of the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder teams. These head-to-head records will give an insight into how the game will pan out.

Melbourne Stars	Team	Sydney Thunder
19	Matches	19
10	Win	9
194	Highest score	219
74	Lowest Score	106
Marcus Stoinis (411)	Most Runs	Usman Khawaja (350)
Haris Rauf (9)	Most Wickets	Adam Zampa (22)

Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder History Score

Now, we will go through the scorecards and statistics of the previous five encounters between these two teams.

Date	Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Winner
Jan 25, 2023	Melbourne Stars 7/119 (20)	Sydney Thunder 7/120 (18.5)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Sydney Thunder
Dec 13, 2022	Sydney Thunder 9/123 (20)	Melbourne Stars 8/122 (20)	Manuka Oval Canberra, Australia	Sydney Thunder
Dec 12, 2022	Sydney Thunder 5/151 (20)	Melbourne Stars 4/155 (17.1)	Sydney Showground Stadium Sydney, Australia	Melbourne Stars
Dec 10, 2021	Melbourne Stars 4/165 (20)	Sydney Thunder 5/161 (20)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Melbourne Stars
Dec 29, 2020	Sydney Thunder 7/219 (20)	Melbourne Stars 144 (19.5)	Manuka Oval Canberra, Australia	Sydney Thunder

The overall Head to Head record between Thunder and Stars shows both teams have been a strong opposition whenever they meet and won almost similar numbers of matches against each other with Stars having the edge with one more victory.

This makes the match even more interesting as recently both teams have not been in their best form and lost both of their matches. However, in our Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder prediction, Thunder is the favorite as they lost the matches by close margins while the Stars were thrashed by the teams in both encounters.

Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder Previous Performances

Here is the descriptive record of both teams in their last 5 matches in the Big Bash League to get an idea of how they have been performing recently.

Sydney Thunder's Last 5 Matches

Date	Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Winner
12 Dec, 2023	Brisbane Heat 7/151 (20)	Sydney Thunder 10/131 (19)	Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia	Brisbane Heat
25 Jan, 2023	Sydney Thunder 7/119 (20)	Sydney Thunder 7/120 (18.5)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Sydney Thunder
22 Jan, 2023	Brisbane Heat 4/188 (20)	Sydney Thunder 3/184 (20)	The Gabba Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Heat
16 Jan, 2023	Sydney Thunder 7/159 (20)	Brisbane Heat 7/160 (20)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Brisbane Heat
14 Jan, 2023	Melbourne Renegades 7/162 (20)	Sydney Thunder 7/156 (20)	Marvel Stadium Melbourne, Australia	Melbourne Renegades

Melbourne Stars's Last 5 Matches

Date	Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Winner
13 Dec, 2023	Melbourne Stars 10/101 (19.1)	Perth Scorchers 3/103 (13.5)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Perth Scorchers
7 Dec, 2023	Brisbane Heat 3/214 (20)	Melbourne Stars 111 (15.1)	The Gabba Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Heat
25 Jan 2023	Melbourne Stars 7/119 (20)	Sydney Thunder 7/120 (18.5)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Sydney Thunder
22 Jan, 2023	Brisbane Heat 4/188 (20)	Melbourne Stars 3/184 (20)	The Gabba Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Heat
16 Jan, 2023	Melbourne Stars 7/159 (20)	Brisbane Heat 7/160 (20)	Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Australia	Brisbane Heat

Teams Analysis Before the Match

Sydney Thunder

Thunder had a disappointing start to their Big Bash Season 2023-24 losing both matches after coming quite close to the win. In their first match against Heat, the bowling unit did a great job by restricting the explosive side of Heat to a mere total of 151 runs. However, the batting line didn't click and they were bundled out to 131 runs and lost the match by 20 runs.

In the second match against Strikers, the batting lineup clicked as Cameron Bancroft and Adam Rose played top innings while this time bowling didn't bowl in the right areas as the openers of Strikers, Matt Short and D’Arcy Short smacked them all around the park. However, the Thunder bowler did well to take the game to the last over, and eventually, the Strikers won the match.

So, Thunder would come with different plans and be more prepared to win this match therefore, they are the favorite to win this match in our Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder prediction.

Melbourne Stars

Stars haven't shown any spark and energy in the field in both of their matches in this year’s BBL season. They are currently at the bottom of the BBL Points Table 2023-24. Both Heat and Scorcher won the match quite dominantly against the Stars.

Their upcoming clash against Thunder is very important for them as it can decide how far this team will go in this year’s Big Bash League. Stars would definitely have new batting and bowling plans to try and win against Thunder on December 22, 2023.

Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder prediction of the Upcoming Match:

The overall head-to-head record might be in favor of Stars against Thunder, but the recent performances and playing style would definitely prefer Sydney Thunder to win the match in our Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder prediction.

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