The Big Bash League (BBL) is Australia’s answer to the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is met with much fan-fare as 8 teams take on each other in the shortest format of the game – the Twenty-20.
Team Sydney Thunder was formed in 2011, along with BBL and have just celebrated their 9th year of being. Not only did they go to win the fifth edition of the men’s Big Bash, but they also won the inaugural women’s Big Bash League! Their home ground is the Sydney Showground Stadium and they can be recognized by their signature lime green jersey.
Here are 5 facts you didn’t know about Sydney Thunder:
1. The youngest member of the team was signed on at the age of 16
Jason Sangha not only made headlines for being signed on at the tender age of 16, but he also went on to become the youngest player to score a half-century in the Big Bash League when he scored an unbeaten 63 of 36 balls. His knock included four boundaries and four sixes that came at a very crucial juncture in their match against Melbourne Renegades.
January/February 2018: Captain Australia to the #U19CWC final 🇦🇺
December 2018: Become the youngest player to score a @BBL fifty! 👏Jason Sangha had an impressive debut for @ThunderBBL with 63* off 36! pic.twitter.com/Ely9FJiD3b
— ICC (@ICC) December 21, 2018
2. Have won by a 1 run margin, twice
Sydney Thunder has had their fair share of close finishes over the years and on two occasions have won their match by a margin of just 1 run. The first one was in 2015 in the Sydney Thunder match against the Melbourne Stars and the second was last year against Scorchers.
3. Off-spinner Chris Green motivates himself to take wickets by donating meals
Chris recently committed to donating 50 meals ($25) for every wicket he takes at Sydney Showground Stadium during BBL|09. Sydney Thunder works with OzHarvest to help provide for these meals. OzHarvest is Australia’s leading food rescue organisation that collects quality excess food from commercial outlets and delivers it directly to more than 1300 charities supporting people in need.
4. High score of 208!
With their strong batting line-up, Sydney Thunder has a top score of 208 for the loss of just 1 wicket against Brisbane Heat in the 2014 edition. Captain Mike Hussey scored 96, while Jacques Kallis scored an unbeaten 97 with both narrowly missing out on their centuries. A total of 14 sixes were hit in their innings, which they eventually won by 56 runs.
5. 2nd most extras in an innings!
This one’s not something the Sydney Thunder team would be too proud of because they once conceded 24 extras against Sydney Sixes in 2013. This included 20 wides, 3 leg byes and 1 bye! This was the 2nd highest number of extras conceded in an innings after Melbourne Star’s 31 extras vs Sydney Sixers.
The 2020 edition of the BBL is currently on-going and we can’t wait to see how the Sydney Thunder perform in this season.
