Comment below what you think the total aggregate score in this game will be for your chance to win the final author payout in SPORTS tokens from this post.
You can find the general rules and information on this competition here
Current burn and winnings stats as follows.
Form Guide
Just 2 games left in this year's Bash with the first of them to decide who will be playing the Sydney Sixers in this weekend's final. For so long it looked a given that the Melbourne Stars would feature in that match and they were heavy favourites to lift their first championship trophy. However, 4 defeats on the bounce now see them in a familiar situation whereby they've promised so much yet failed to deliver when it really counts. Can they finally reverse that historical trend? By contrast, the Thunder who only just squeaked into the top 5 are playing like a side with nothing to lose and have already completed impressive victories over the Hurricanes and the Strikers to make it this far.
One of the key reasons behind the Thunder's success in the playoffs has been their ability to sum up the pitch conditions pretty quickly and bowl accordingly. Both wickets in Hobart and Adelaide have favoured slower bowlers or cross seamers into the wicket which has suited the Thunder attack and given the results of the last few games here at the MCG it looks likely that conditions will again be in favour of that kind of bowling. The spin attacks of both sides then are fairly evenly matched but it might be the Thunder's quicker bowlers who appear to have greater variety that could again give them an edge.
In batting terms the Stars have really gone off the boil in recent matches but the quality still remains suggesting that you'd be foolish to write off a big score from a player like Stoinis or Maxwell which could ultimately win this match. As for the Thunder, I can only say what I've written in the last 2 blogs they've been involved in and that is that they are entirely dependant on their top 3 making runs. Alex Hales, in particular, is the form batsman of the playoffs and a lot rests on his broad shoulders. Outside of the top 3, The Thunder have scored just 1 half-century all season and in general, you'd have to say they are a batsman light in that middle order.
As mentioned above pitch conditions plus the relevant bowling attacks mean this is unlikely to be a high-scoring affair. In these big knockout games scores of 150 in the first innings can be worth more like 180 in regular-season situations just because of the scoreboard pressure that can be built on the team batting second.
Entries for this competition close at 8:30am GMT on Thursday, 6th February