Moises Henriques has lit the fuse ahead of the BBL summer's first Sydney Smash, claiming it is "an easy two points" when his Sydney Sixers face the Sydney Thunder.
The Thunder have won only two of the past 10 clashes between the local rivals, last tasting victory in January 2021, and entering the new season as the reigning wooden spooners.
One of the league's more enduringly successful teams, the Sixers could have been on a six-game winning streak against the Thunder had rain not washed out one of last year's clashes.
Asked whether he'd circled Saturday's derby at the Sydney Showground when the draw came out, Henriques shrugged.
"All the games have been circled, but December 21, well that’s just an easy two points for us normally, so I haven’t paid that one too much attention," the veteran said.
Both the Sixers and Thunder bring winning form into what is expected to be a sold-out clash.
Henriques blasted the Sixers home in their first match of the tournament against the Melbourne Renegades on Monday night, before Daniel Sams did the same for the Sydney Thunder facing the Adelaide Strikers a day later.
It was an encouraging starting note for the Thunder, whose 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas became the BBL's youngest-ever half-centurion with 56 runs on debut.
Playing the first full BBL season of his career, former Test opener David Warner warned Henriques against writing off the Thunder too easily this time around.
"If they want to bring cockiness to it then they’ve got to back it up, don’t they?
"We know it’s a good contest. They’ve hit the upper edge a lot of the time, and they’re a well-structured and well-balanced team," said Warner.
The Thunder's one win last season was the fewest by any BBL side in 10 years but paceman Wes Agar, West Indies globetrotter Sherfane Rutherford and former English international Sam Billings have headlined a list of reinforcements for the summer.
Konstas, Rutherford and Billings will be expected to lift the Thunder's batting prospects after only one player - Alex Hales - cracked the BBL's top-15 run scorers last season.
"I do think they've got a good list," Henriques said.
"I expect them to challenge for the finals a lot more than they did last year.
"(The Sydney Smash) is going to be a huge game for us. We play them twice, so being good in those two games for us is going to be a huge part of if we have success or not."
