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The Sydney Showground Stadium is set to host a pivotal BBL|15 clash on December 30 as Sydney Thunder lock horns with Perth Scorchers in a battle for mid-season momentum.

Both sides are looking to bounce back from recent defeats, but the narrative is defined by contrasting challenges; the Thunder, currently mid-table, are desperate to cure their post-powerplay fragility.

With the Thunder seeking to exploit home conditions through pacer Daniel Sams and the Scorchers trusting Corey Rocchiccioli and Ashton Agar to dismantle the hosts, this contest shapes up as a gritty test of depth and resilience on a surface known to challenge the batters.

ST vs PS, BBL|15: Match details

• Date and Time: December 30; 1:45 pm IST / 8:15 am GMT / 7:15 pm Local
• Venue: Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney

ST vs PS, Head-to-Head Record in BBL

Matches played: 20 | Sydney Thunder won: 11 | Perth Scorchers won: 09 | No result/Tied: 0

Sydney Showground Stadium Pitch Report

The Sydney Showground Stadium, home of the Thunder, is notorious for testing batting techniques. Unlike the flat tracks found elsewhere in the BBL, this surface heavily favors the bowlers, particularly with the new ball. Seamers can expect significant lateral movement, pace, and bounce, making the Powerplay a genuine survival test rather than a scoring opportunity.

Historical data confirms the struggle; nearly half of the innings played here end with totals between 110 and 157. While the track tends to settle slightly as the game wears on – rewarding smart strike rotation over brute force – it remains a low-scoring venue.

Spinners find minor grip, but this ground is primarily a battleground where disciplined pace bowling dictates the flow of the game.

Squads:

Perth Scorchers: Mitchell Marsh, Finn Allen (wk), Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie, Ashton Turner (c), Laurie Evans, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Joel Paris, Brody Couch, Mahli Beardman, Sam Fanning, Josh Inglis, Corey Rocchiccioli

Sydney Thunder: Sam Konstas, Matthew Gilkes, David Warner (c), Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings (wk), Shadab Khan, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Tanveer Sangha, Reece Topley, Ryan Hadley, Tom Andrews, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras

Also READ: Nathan Ellis’ bowling brilliance and Matthew Wade’s late fireworks seal thrilling Hobart Hurricanes’ win over Melbourne Renegades in BBL|15

ST vs PS, BBL|15: Today’s Match Prediction

Case 1:

• Sydney Thunder wins the toss and bats first
• Sydney Thunder’s powerplay score: 40-50
• Sydney Thunder’s total score: 150-160

Case 2:

• Perth Scorchers wins the toss and bats first
• Perth Scorchers’ powerplay score: 30-40
• Perth Scorchers’ total score: 140-150

Match result: Team batting first to win the contest.

Also READ: Ashes 2025/26 – Sunil Gavaskar takes swipe at ICC over pitch ratings after Melbourne Test ends in two days

US President Donald Trump on Monday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, over the Gaza peace plan but steered clear of announcing any progress on the next phase of the ceasefire.The two leaders held a private lunch at Trump’s Florida residence, with the US President saying ahead of the meeting that he planned to discuss “five major subjects,” including Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Iran.While Trump later suggested that several issues were quickly narrowed, no concrete decisions were unveiled after more than an hour of talks.

Gaza ceasefire: Phase two still elusive

A central focus of the meeting was the stalled second phase of the US-brokered Gaza truce, which is meant to pave the way for an interim Palestinian administration, an international stabilization force and reconstruction of the region which is in shambles after over two-years of current war. Trump played down the lack of visible progress, saying he was “not concerned about anything that Israel’s doing” and asserting that Israel had “lived up” to its commitments.He placed responsibility squarely on Hamas, warning: “If they don’t disarm as they agreed to do, then there will be hell to pay for them. They have to disarm in a fairly short period of time.”Hamas’s armed wing reiterated on Monday that it would not surrender its weapons. Trump nevertheless insisted, “Israel’s lived up to the plan 100 per cent,” adding, “They’re strong. They’re solid,” reported CNN.

Praise-heavy optics, divisions beneath

The talks at Mar-a-Lago were dominated by mutual praise. “We’ve never had a friend like President Trump in the White House. It’s not even close,” Netanyahu said on arrival. Trump returned the compliment, calling their ties “extraordinary” and remarking, “If you had a weak man, you wouldn’t have Israel right now. Israel, with most other leaders, would not exist today.”Netanyahu announced that Israel would award Trump its highest civilian honour, marking the first time it would go to a non-Israeli. “President Trump has broken so many conventions to surprise people, so we decided to break a convention or create a new one,” Netanyahu said.Trump said the recognition was “really surprising and very much appreciated,” and described Netanyahu as a “wartime” leader.However, Trump acknowledged lingering differences, particularly over the West Bank. “We’ve had a discussion, big discussion, for a long time on the West Bank, and I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100 per cent,” he told CNN, reiterating his opposition to annexation.

Trump’s assertion on Netanyahu’s pardon

Trump also weighed in on Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, saying a pardon was imminent. “How do you not give a pardon? He is a wartime prime minister who is a hero,” Trump said. “I spoke with President Isaac Herzog. He tells me it is on its way,” as he talked about his lobbying attempt to secure Netanyahu a Presidential pardon. However, Israel president quickly disputed the claim. In a clarification cited by CNN, Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office said, “There has been no conversation between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon request was submitted,” adding that any decision would follow standard legal procedures.Netanyahu is Israel’s first sitting prime minister to face criminal charges. He is on trial in three cases filed in 2019 alleging bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies. On November 30, he formally sought clemency, arguing that court proceedings hamper his ability to govern. While Israel’s president has the power to grant pardons, there is no precedent for doing so while a trial is ongoing.

Clear red lines from Washington for Iran

Trump’s most aggressive remarks were reserved for Iran, amid Israeli concerns that Tehran is rebuilding its ballistic missile capabilities following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year on its nuclear facility.“I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down,” Trump said, adding, “We’ll knock the hell out of them.” He warned of “very powerful” consequences if Iran pursued new nuclear or missile sites, though he said he still believed Tehran might be open to a deal. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader responded that any aggression would face an “immediate harsh response,” AFP reported.

Broader regional focus

Beyond Gaza and Iran, the talks touched on Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Trump said he hoped Netanyahu could “get along” with Syria’s new president, who came to power after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad last year.Netanyahu’s visit capped a busy diplomatic stretch for Trump at Mar-a-Lago, following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite repeated references to reconstruction and future governance in Gaza, Trump offered few specifics, leaving the path ahead – in Gaza and across the region – uncertain.

Indian women cricket team’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said focusing on the World Cup win will not help the team prepare for the next one and added that the side still has areas to work on ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled next year.Mandhana returned to form in the fourth T20I against Sri Lanka in Trivandrum on Sunday after low scores in the first three matches. She scored 80 off 48 balls and also crossed 10,000 international runs during the knock. She became the fastest female cricketer to reach the mark and only the fourth overall after Charlotte Edwards, Mithali Raj and Suzie Bates.

“In cricket, you have to start from zero. The scoreboard is always zero for zero. It’s never what you’ve done in the last match or previous series as well. Internal expectations for me in all three formats are very different. Of course, T20 is slightly in a way where you can’t be extremely hard on yourself after getting out because you’re playing at a pace where there are days when it’ll come off. There are days when it won’t.““I’m really tough on myself with one-day cricket and test cricket because, of course, you have a lot of time. If you get out there, it feels like a sin for me. But there are days when you win the match for the country, but there are days when you won’t be able to get runs. But you have to take both things at your stride because you can’t overthink. It’s just quick turnover,” Mandhana said in a video shared by the BCCI.She said the team remains a work in progress and that thinking too much about the recent ODI World Cup win will not help future results.“Like, if I had thought a lot about the first three matches, we only had one day before this one. So it’s about just prepping your mind around how you want to go about your cricket. The One Day World Cup was the biggest thing for women’s cricket. And we did take off that one. So it’s a big, big win. But again, you know, you can’t be thinking about only successes.”“We’ve had times when we could have won matches, but we couldn’t this year. And again, this team being this young, we are always a work in progress. There’s going to be a World Cup, but it’s a work in progress. If you keep thinking about the World Cup, the next one won’t come. If I had to review it more critically, I would give it 7 out of 10. We have many areas to improve as a team,” she said.Mandhana also thanked the fans for their support during the ODI World Cup and said the team hopes to keep earning their backing.“We keep talking about it in terms of where we want to see ourselves fitness-wise, feeling-wise, and running-wise. And then, of course, power hitting now with T20s. So yeah, I mean, all in those things, execution of bowling plans. I had spoken about bowlers. But I feel as an Indian team, all the fans who’ve supported us throughout the year, especially the One Day World Cup and post that kind of support we’ve got, I feel, I mean, it’s just been a fantastic year for women’s cricket. And I hope we just keep making them proud, and I hope they keep turning up and support us,” she said.

Representative image (ANI)

NEW DELHI: Call it the IndiGo schedule collapse and its fallout impact. A clamour has broken out between the budget airline and Air India group over having adequate captains to avoid a repeat of what happened under the new safety-enhancing flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules.IndiGo has had to commit to DGCA about hiring pilots — it will induct 100 in Jan itself — and AI has already come out with an ad for getting more aviators on board. But both the airlines are also facing a significant number of captain resignations — with some leaving one for the other and mostly for joining foreign carriers — so the hiring is also to ensure they don’t go below their current numbers which has made the scramble more intense that anything seen before in Indian skies.For once, their balance sheet-centric human resource departments are on the back foot and can’t oppose sprucing of ranks after what happened earlier this month. A senior official of one of the two big Indian carriers claimed its captains are already getting “calls with joining bonus of upto Rs 50 lakh.”“Where do we get captains from? Under the new FDTL, experienced pilots’ availability will become acute. There will be lot of poaching from each other,” said a senior airline official. A few years back, said a senior pilot, IndiGo had offered a joining bonus to experienced aviators to join which would take care of the bond payment, if any, needed to be paid to the airline they were resigning from. “This was in the range of Rs 15-25 lakh to take care of the bond, which back then was somewhere between Rs 5 and 15 lakh,” the pilot said.“India will witness a scramble for captains between Air India group and IndiGo. While Air India does not have a shortage as of now for its fleet except the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, it has to hire for the future. IndiGo will have to improve its pilot-management relations to retain and attract talent. Akasa does not need more pilots (it has a big surplus). Unless AI & IndiGo offer better working conditions to pilots, they will not be able to stem the flow to Middle East and other places like Vietnam,” said Captain Shakti Lumba, former VP of AI and IndiGo.IndiGo has slightly raised pilot pay from next month, by enhancing some existing and adding new allowances. Air India is planning a major salvo which will be fired in first week of Jan and is a closely guarded secret within the airline.Pilots at both AI Group and IndiGo have been unhappy for two main reasons — poor working condition and a pay structure that did not keep pace with inflation. While the FDT proposes to reduce fatigue, the tug of war means that both will have to become humane employers for pilots.While IndiGo will have less strenuous working norms for pilots that will increase its requirement, AI plans to be ready for aircraft induction that is expected from next year. As of now, only AI’s Boeing 787 fleet pilots fly more while the B777 and Airbus A320 not so much. That should change from next year and AI does not want to be in Big Blue shoes when that happens.

Comedian Jamie Lever recently announced a break from social media, a move that was linked to the backlash she faced over a video mimicking Bigg Boss 19 contestant Tanya Mittal. However, Jamie later clarified through a post that her decision to step away was purely due to personal reasons and her need to spend quality time with her family.‘My break has nothing to do with Tanya Mittal’Speaking to us, Jamie said, “This has nothing to do with Tanya Mittal. I don’t know how people connected the two things. In my post, I wrote, ‘I lost a part of me’ because 2025 has been a very busy year. I have just come back from my US tour. I have done films and other projects. I realised I lost time with my family and that’s what I meant by, ‘I lost something this year’. So, it was just me saying I need time. I needed to detox from social media because it can be exhausting to have to deal with messages and expectations of people.”

When asked about the trolling after she mimicked Tanya, she says, “Tanya has not reacted to my video. I have zero communication with her. I think trolling people has become the new thing.”‘I’ve been mimicking people for the past 12 years’Jamie, who is known for mimicking several celebs, including Farah Khan Kunder, Asha Bhosle and Kareena Kapoor Khan, admits she was taken aback by the intense backlash. “I didn’t expect this reaction. I have been mimicking people for the past 12 years and mimicry has been going on in our country for so many years. It is an art form and the highest form of flattery, and we don’t have to explain this to people over and over again. When you mimic someone, it is not considered mockery,” she says, adding, “When people say things like, ‘You are body shaming her,’ I want to tell them that when you are mimicking someone, you are obviously going to use the person’s body language. The facial expressions and tonality of the voice require a lot of skill to do that. My point is simple – if you don’t understand mimicry or dislike the video, then don’t watch it.” ‘Want to spend time with family now, will return to social media next year’So, does she plan to return to social media sometime soon? “Right now I want to spend time with my family. I have relatives that have come home from different cities. I want to enjoy spending time with them like sitting together and having coffee. I am on a social media detox now and I will be back next year, which is anyway just a few days away.”

Desert Vipers will face MI Emirates in qualifier one of the International League T20. This article contains information regarding the DV vs MIE Head-to-Head records in this particular competition.

DV vs MIE Head-to-Head Records- ILT20 2025-26, Qualifier 1:

Stats	Matches	DV won	MIE won	Draw	Tied	NR
Overall	8	4	4	0	0	0
At Sheikh Zayed Stadium	4	2	2	0	0	0
In the last 5 matches	5	2	3	0	0	0

DV vs MIE Head-to-Head Records- Key Statistics

Desert Vipers and MI Emirates have faced each other in eight games so far, with the honors being shared as far as the number of wins registered by each team is concerned.

Desert Vipers and MI Emirates have won four games each in the four seasons of the ILT20, with the upcoming match, which happens to be the first qualifier, being the ninth outing between them, and both teams would eye a win to proceed to the final.

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Having said that, the team that loses the match in question will get another chance in the second qualifier against the loser of the Eliminator.

If we talk about the number of wins registered by both teams in the last five games that they have been involved in in the six-team tournament, MI Emirates has a one-match lead with three wins.

Whereas the Desert Vipers have succeeded in getting the better of MI Emirates on a couple of occasions.

The Desert Vipers and the MI Emirates have played four matches at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, the venue that is going to host the next game between the two teams.

As far as the results of the above-mentioned four games at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium are concerned, both Desert Vipers and MI Emirates have won two games each.

When it comes to the two instances when the two teams have gone head-to-head against each other this season, both games proved to be a close affair, with Desert Vipers winning the first game and MI Emirates coming out on top in the return fixture.