Thunder veteran Chris Green laughs off Tanveer Sangha’s suggestion the Sydney Sixers are scared

Rather than being “scared” the Sydney Sixers have belief built through a long history of owning their cross-town rivals so much so they “have the wood” over the Sydney Thunder with barbs flying ahead of Friday’s SCG showdown.

Young Thunder spin star Tanveer Sangha lit the fuse for a lively clash declaring that the Sixers were “scared to play us” and “vulnerable” in the absence of star batters Steve Smith and James Vince after his team won their way in to the third BBL final.

Jordan Silk has experienced enough Sixers wins over the Thunder, including a final over thriller in their one completed encounter this season, and declared the opposite to be true.

The Thunder haven’t beaten the sixers since the 2020/21 season, and haven’t won a match between the exams at the SCG since 2016

“In all our history, our record over the Thunder has been quite strong. So I think we take a lot of belief from that. We’ve had the wood over them for a number of years,” Silk said on Thursday.

“This year with David Warner back in the fold for the Thunder … they definitely line up a bit differently, you can never really take any game for granted and we’ll have to be absolutely at our best to knock them off tomorrow.”

Even Sangha’s teammate, Chris Green, suggested the rising star could have gotten a tad ahead of himself.

The Sixers might not have Smith and Vince, or Sean Abbott and Todd Murphy, all with the Australian Test team, but have a strong record in finals, not withstanding their loss to the Hobart Hurricanes on Monday night.

“I certainly don’t see them as vulnerable,” Green said.

“I think they’ve got some great replacements, Kurtis Patterson did a great job the other night coming in for Steve Smith and Ben Dwarshuis is having a season to remember, with both bat and ball as well,” Green said.

“There’s a lot of guys in that group that have played finals cricket, have won BBL titles, and know how to get the job done.”

In fact, Green said his team would lean in to them being underdogs, despite their bold season so far under the captaincy of Warner, which has then one win away from the finals.

“Even the year we went on and won it in BBL|05, we were underdogs that year, and we had a great team. I think we’ve got a great team this year, and I think we come into this finals race still as underdogs,“ he said.

“I really back the way we’re playing, there’s a lot of belief within the group. There’s a lot of fight within the group that we can go on and win this match tomorrow night and we’re all excited for that prospect.”

However when asked if he had a message for Sixers captain and New South Wales teammate Moises Henriques for tomorrow night Green had just one response “good luck”.

Recent history between the two sides would suggest the Thunder will go into this final as underdogs, a label that Green believes his side are embracing.