Cricket betting tips: Sydney Thunder versus Perth Scorchers preview and best bets

Cricket betting tips: Big Bash – Sydney Thunder v Perth Scorchers

0.5pt Chris Green top Sydney Thunder batsman at 35/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)

0.5pt Nathan McAndrew top Sydney Thunder batsman at 50/1 (bet365, William Hill)

CHRIS GREENwas a 40/1 winner for these pages when top scoring for Sydney Thunder on New Year’s Day, and we could be in business again when champions Perth Scorchers visit on Monday.

I’ve been advocating betting the middle/lower order at big prices in the right scenario all season, and Thunder remain ripe for this strategy, with their misfiring top order and a batting line-up generally low on runs and confidence.

While Cameron Bancroft has performed well since his switch to Sydney, Alex Hales hasn't yet fired, and the respective top scores from Alex Ross and Ollie Davies so far are 46 and 35.

Hales could of course come good, and runs from Bancroft would not surprise, but Green’s unbeaten 33 last time out was more than enough to see him surpass 25 from Daniel Sams, and it was very nearly the case when his 30 against Brisbane Heat was only five short of the winning score.

The Power Surge certainly keeps that middle/lower order in the game, and we saw Nikhil Chaudhary – much to the frustration of this author having tipped him at big prices on a couple of occasions earlier this term – win the market for Hobart Hurricanes on Sunday.

Perth pacers to do early damage

What makes the potential for a perfect storm on Monday is that the Thunder come up against the defending champions here, a Big Bash giant boasting a battery of fine fast bowlers – namely Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and Jason Behrendorff.

If that fearsome bowling attack does what is has so many times before and makes early inroads, the Thunder middle/lower could well be tasked with another rescue act.

The aforementioned Sams is definitely in the game and I wouldn’t want to dissuade his supporters, but 12/1 is hardly a gift, and I’m happier playing at bigger prices given the success we've had with that strategy already, and that the two men I’m backing make plenty of appeal in their own right.

Green and McAndrew can rescue Thunder

Aside from the fact the Thunder top order has many question marks against it – and David Warner’s expected return on Friday will be a boost to them – Green just has very sound credentials on his own form, those two thirties already noted sandwiched by a 17 not from only nine balls against Sydney Sixers.

Green has always been a handy batsman, but he looks in particularly good touch at the moment and perhaps captaincy has narrowed his focus. Whatever the reasons, he is hitting the ball cleanly and should continue to prove a live runner in this market from now until the end of the season.

Anything above 25/1 is probably worth a bet, so 35/1 most certainly is.

I won’t divert from the plan and must add NATHAN MCANDREW to the staking plan, with 50/1 available about him.

McAndrew hits a long ball and is the sort of player who can be particularly dangerous in the Power Surge. He has eight First Class fifties to his name and an average nudging a very respectable 30.

Though yet to fire this term, he is just the type of heavy hitter who will have his day in the sun at some stage.

McAndrew has actually been batting one spot higher than Green this season, so much potential does he have, and I can't let him go unbacked at the prices given a quickfire 30 or 40 has regularly been winning this market.

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