# 2021–22 Sydney Thunder season

The 2021–22 Sydney Thunder season was the eleventh in the team's history. Coached by Trevor Bayliss, the Thunder entered BBL|11 placing in fourth in BBL|10.

## Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | BP | Pts | NRR | Qualification |
| 1 | Perth Scorchers (C) | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 0.926 | Advanced to play-off phase |
| 2 | Sydney Sixers | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 35 | 1.027 | Advanced to play-off phase |
| 3 | Sydney Thunder | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 35 | 0.725 | Advanced to play-off phase |
| 4 | Adelaide Strikers | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 28 | 0.237 | Advanced to play-off phase |
| 5 | Hobart Hurricanes | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 27 | −0.332 | Advanced to play-off phase |
| 6 | Melbourne Stars | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 26 | −0.222 | |
| 7 | Brisbane Heat | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 16 | −0.910 | |
| 8 | Melbourne Renegades | 14 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 16 | −1.477 | |

## Regular season

* Match 2 6 December 2021 19:15 (N) Scorecard
| Brisbane Heat 8/140 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder (H) 3/141 (17.1 overs) |
| Ben Duckett 46 (35) Daniel Sams 3/22 (4 overs) | | Alex Ross 61* (46) Liam Guthrie 2/32 (3 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 7 wickets Manuka Oval, Canberra Attendance: 6,824 Umpires: Greg Davidson and Tony Wilds Player of the match: Alex Ross (Sydney Thunder)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
* Liam Guthrie (Brisbane Heat) made his T20 debut.
* Match 7 10 December 2021 19:15 (N) Scorecard
| (H) Melbourne Stars 4/165 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 5/161 (20 overs) |
| Nick Larkin 52* (43) Tanveer Sangha 2/29 (4 overs) | | Matthew Gilkes 56 (49) Nathan Coulter-Nile 2/27 (4 overs) |
* Melbourne Stars won by 4 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 10,888 Umpires: Darren Close and Greg Davidson Player of the match: Nick Larkin (Melbourne Stars)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 10 12 December 2021 19:15 (N) Scorecard
| (H) Sydney Thunder 5/151 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Stars 4/155 (17.1 overs) |
| Alex Ross 77* (49) Qais Ahmad 2/17 (4 overs) | | Andre Russell 42* (21) Tanveer Sangha 2/20 (4 overs) |
* Melbourne Stars won by 6 wickets Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 4,314 Umpires: Gerard Abood and Ben Treloar Player of the match: Andre Russell (Melbourne Stars)
* Melbourne Stars won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 14 19 December 2021 18:40 (N) Scorecard
| Sydney Thunder 7/196 (20 overs) | v | Brisbane Heat (H) 143 (17.3 overs) |
| Sam Billings 64 (27) Mitchell Swepson 2/27 (4 overs) | | Xavier Bartlett 42* (29) Saqib Mahmood 4/22 (3 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 53 runs The Gabba, Brisbane Attendance: 16,189 Umpires: Darren Close and Donovan Koch Player of the match: Saqib Mahmood (Sydney Thunder)
* Brisbane won the toss and elected to field.
* X-factor subs: Tom Cooper (Brisbane Heat) replaced Tom Abell.
* Match 20 26 December 2021 18:05 (D/N) Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 4/168 (16 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder (H) 142 (15.1 overs) |
| Daniel Hughes 50 (26) Daniel Sams 2/29 (3 overs) | | Jason Sangha 47 (30) Hayden Kerr 3/29 (3 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 30 runs (DLS method) Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 10,061 Umpires: Greg Davidson and Bruce Oxenford Player of the match: Dan Christian (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
* Rain stopped play during Sydney Sixers innings. Sydney Thunder were set a revised target of 173 runs from 16 overs.
* Todd Murphy (Sydney Sixers) made his T20 debut.
* X-factor subs: Mickey Edwards (Sydney Sixers) replaced Todd Murphy.
* Match 24 28 December 2021 19:15 (N) Scorecard
| (H) Sydney Thunder 7/200 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 8/166 (20 overs) |
| Sam Billings 67 (35) Matthew Kelly 3/30 (4 overs) | | Colin Munro 64* (43) Nathan McAndrew 3/40 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 34 runs Manuka Oval, Canberra Attendance: 9,740 Umpires: Donovan Koch and David Taylor Player of the match: Sam Billings (Sydney Thunder)
* Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field.
* X-factor subs: Lance Morris (Perth Scorchers) replaced Peter Hatzoglou.
* Match 28 31 December 2021 18:45 (N) Scorecard
| Sydney Thunder 3/187 (20 overs) | v | Adelaide Strikers (H) 7/165 (20 overs) |
| Jason Sangha 91* (55) Fawad Ahmed 1/22 (4 overs) | | Jonathan Wells 46 (26) Daniel Sams 4/33 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 22 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Attendance: 9,555 Umpires: Darren Close and Greg Davidson Player of the match: Jason Sangha (Sydney Thunder)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 32 2 January 2022 19:15 (N) Scorecard
| (H) Sydney Thunder 7/172 (20 overs) | v | Adelaide Strikers 144 (19.1 overs) |
| Matthew Gilkes 93 (57) Wes Agar 3/26 (4 overs) | | Harry Nielsen 39 (31) Mohammad Hasnain 3/20 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 28 runs Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney Umpires: Gerard Abood and Simon Lightbody Player of the match: Matthew Gilkes (Sydney Thunder)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
* Henry Hunt (Adelaide Strikers) made his T20 debut.
* Match 38 6 January 2022 20:15 (N) Scorecard
| (H) Perth Scorchers 9/133 (18 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 4/137 (17 overs) |
| Cameron Bancroft 30 (31) Gurinder Sandhu 4/22 (4 overs) | | Jason Sangha 34 (26) Andrew Tye 2/38 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 6 wickets (DLS method) Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast Umpires: Gerard Abood and Troy Penman Player of the match: Gurinder Sandhu (Sydney Thunder)
* Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rain stopped play during Perth Scorchers innings. Sydney Thunder were set a revised target of 135 runs from 18 overs due to rain.
* Gurinder Sandhu became the first player to take a hat-trick for the Sydney Thunder.
* Match 40 8 January 2022 18:05 (N) Scorecard
| Sydney Thunder 7/209 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Renegades (H) 80 (14.2 overs) |
| Daniel Sams 98* (44) Kane Richardson 2/39 (4 overs) | | James Seymour 25 (23) Mohammad Hasnain 3/22 (3.2 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 129 runs Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 4,351 Umpires: Bruce Oxenford and Ben Treloar Player of the match: Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder)
* Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 43 10 January 2022 14:10 Scorecard
| (H) Hobart Hurricanes 6/139 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 1/140 (17.2 overs) |
| Ben McDermott 38 (34) Nathan McAndrew 2/31 (4 overs) | | Alex Hales 80* (56) D'Arcy Short 1/9 (3 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 9 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 5,802 Umpires: Gerard Abood and David Taylor Player of the match: Alex Hales (Sydney Thunder)
* Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 47 13 January 2022 15:45 (D/N) Scorecard
| Hobart Hurricanes 6/177 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder (H) 9/168 (20 overs) |
| Matthew Wade 83* (54) Gurinder Sandhu 2/27 (3 overs) | | Alex Hales 38 (17) Jordan Thompson 3/24 (3 overs) |
* Hobart Hurricanes won by 9 runs Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Attendance: 10,014 Umpires: Sam Nogajski and Troy Penman Player of the match: Riley Meredith (Hobart Hurricanes)
* Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat.
* X-factor subs: Mitchell Owen (Hobart Hurricanes) replaced Wil Parker.
* Match 50 15 January 2022 18:40 (N) Scorecard
| (H) Sydney Sixers 5/197 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 9/137 (20 overs) |
| Daniel Hughes 66 (48) Nathan McAndrew 2/30 (3 overs) | | Chris Green 50 (31) Steve O'Keefe 4/18 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 60 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Attendance: 20,306 Umpires: Gerard Abood and Phillip Gillespie Player of the match: Steve O'Keefe (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
* Match 55 19 January 2022 16:10 (D/N) Scorecard
| (H) Sydney Thunder 8/170 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Renegades 7/169 (20 overs) |
| Usman Khawaja 77 (51) Cameron Boyce 5/21 (4 overs) | | Aaron Finch 82 (64) Gurinder Sandhu 3/33 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 1 run Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Simon Lightbody and Tony Wilds Player of the match: Cameron Boyce (Melbourne Renegades)
* Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to field.
* Cameron Boyce (Melbourne Renegades) became the first bowler to take four wickets in four consecutive deliveries in the BBL.

## Playoffs

* Knockout 23 January 2022 19:15 (N) Scorecard
| Adelaide Strikers 6/184 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder (H) 6/178 (20 overs) |
| Ian Cockbain 65 (38) Tanveer Sangha 2/15 (4 overs) | | Jason Sangha 61 (43) Harry Conway 2/33 (4 overs) |
* Adelaide Strikers won by 6 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Phillip Gillespie and Donovan Koch Player of the match: Ian Cockbain (Adelaide Strikers)
* Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to bat.

## Squad

Each 2021–22 squad was made up of 18 active players. Teams could sign up to five overseas players, with a maximum of three of those being able to play in each match.
Personnel changes made ahead of the season included:
* English internationals Alex Hales and Sam Billings opted to re-sign with the Thunder for the season.
* New Zealand international Adam Milne opted not to re-sign.
* English international Saqib Mahmood signed with the Thunder, but was not available for the start of the tournament due to scheduling
* Callum Ferguson departed the Thunder, with no contract being offered.
The squad for the 2021–22 Big Bash League season.
* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
* Ages are given as of the first match of the tournament, 5 December 2021
| No. | Name | Nationality | Date of birth (age) | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batters |||||||
| 18 | Usman Khawaja | Australia | (1986-12-18)18 December 1986 (aged 34) | Left-handed | Right-arm off-break | Captain |
| 6 | Alex Hales | England | (1989-01-05)5 January 1989 (aged 32) | Right-handed | Right arm medium | |
| 9 | Oliver Davies | Australia | (2000-10-15)15 October 2000 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 49 | Alex Ross | Australia | (1992-04-17)17 April 1992 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm off-break | |
| 32 | Jason Sangha | Australia | (1999-09-08)8 September 1999 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right arm leg spin | |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 93 | Chris Green | Australia | (1993-10-01)1 October 1993 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right arm off-break | Vice captain |
| 44 | Nathan McAndrew | Australia | (1993-07-14)14 July 1993 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 95 | Daniel Sams | Australia | (1992-10-27)27 October 1992 (aged 29) | Right-handed | Left-arm fast medium | |
| 31 | Ben Cutting | Australia | (1987-01-30)30 January 1987 (aged 34) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 7 | Sam Billings | England | (1991-06-15)15 June 1991 (aged 30) | Right-Handed | Right-arm medium | Visa contract |
| 22 | Matt Gilkes | Australia | (1999-08-21)21 August 1999 (aged 22) | Left-Handed | Left-arm medium | |
| 16 | Baxter Holt | Australia | (1999-10-21)21 October 1999 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 3 | Sam Whiteman | Australia | (1992-03-19)19 March 1992 (aged 29) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | Replacement player |
| Bowlers |||||||
| 11 | Saqib Mahmood | England | (1997-02-25)25 February 1997 (aged 24) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | Visa contract |
| 35 | Brendan Doggett | Australia | (1994-05-03)3 May 1994 (aged 27) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 20 | Chris Tremain | Australia | (1991-08-10)10 August 1991 (aged 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 50 | Jono Cook | Australia | (1989-12-14)14 December 1989 (aged 31) | Right-handed | Right arm leg spin | |
| 28 | Gurinder Sandhu | Australia | (1993-06-14)14 June 1993 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right arm fast medium | |
| 17 | Tanveer Sangha | Australia | (2001-11-26)26 November 2001 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right arm leg spin | |