Back the Scorchers, bank on Mitchell Marsh and Jhye Richardson

Our XI: Alex Hales, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Liam Livingstone, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Ross, Chris Morris, Daniel Sams, Jhye Richardson, Fawad Ahmed, Gurinder Sandhu

Captain: Mitchell Marsh

In Perth, Marsh has been very, very good. Barring one game, he has scored consistently; overall, he has 365 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 150.82 and average of 40.55. The Scorchers' hopes rest with Marsh and it's a good time to keep him as your captain.

Vice-captain: Jhye Richardson

A total of 14 wickets from 11 games at an impressive economy rate of 7.19 - Richardson is the leading wicket-taker for the Scorchers. The Thunder batting is not their strongest suit and Richardson could be vital towards taking advantage of it.

The tournament's leading wicket-taker with 20 strikes at an economy of 7.76, Sams picks up a wicket every 11 balls. That means he is expected to take at least two per game. He has gone wicketless only once, and must be picked.

He has gone under the radar somewhat, but Ross has been in form in the last few games. He has 217 runs at a strike rate of 137.34. In the last two games, he scored 51 and 32. The Thunder middle order has struggled and Ross is key towards holding the innings together.

Josh Inglis: Inglis has 324 runs at a strike rate of 158.04. He is the second-highest run-getter for the Scorchers and his starts are key for them doing well. In the last ten games, Inglis has only two single-digit scores.

Fawad Ahmed: Fawad has been brilliant this season: 13 wickets and conceding just seven runs per over. He has gone wicketless in only one game in the last ten matches, and could be another bowler to exploit the weak middle order of the Thunder.

The average first-innings score in Perth is 170. Pace bowlers have an economy of 9.03 while the spinners go at 7.3.