Thunder star Tanveer Sangha threw the first of verbal punches ahead of the Friday night final at the SCG, claiming the Sixers were "vulnerable" and "scared" in the aftermath of their 21-run defeat of the Melbourne Stars.
Australian white-ball leg-spinner Sangha said the Sixers would struggle to score runs without their "big dogs", referring to Test players Steve Smith, Sean Abbott and Todd Murphy who left camp after last week's washout.
The Sixers are also without top-order batter James Vince and spinner Akeal Hosein, the internationals shipping out to the UAE for the ILT20 competition ahead of the finals.
Asked what he thought of Sangha's comments, Sixers batsman Jordan Silk said on Thursday: "no, I don't think that's fair.
"If he's referring to some of our batters, we've had multiple guys throughout our whole season who have contributed to some wins along the way, so we're confident in that group, that they can stand up."
Tanveer Sangha has been quick to point out the Sixers will be missing some stars. (Jeremy Ng/AAP PHOTOS)
Silk also pointed to his side's long-standing success in the rivalry, with the Thunder having only won two of the past 10 clashes prior to this summer.
"In all our history, our record over the Thunder has been quite strong," he said.
"We take a lot of belief from that, that we've had the wood over them for a number of years."
The winner of Friday night's clash at the SCG will book a date with the Hobart Hurricanes in Monday night's grand final at Hobart's Ninja Stadium.
The Sixers were shaky in the first match-up this season against the Thunder and needed until the last ball to beat their rivals, before rain denied Sangha's side a chance for revenge last week.
The Thunder will take extra confidence from the Sixers' 12-run qualifying-final loss to the Hurricanes.
The Sixers were left to rue losing big names Josh Philippe, Jack Edwards and Moises Henriques collapsing to 3-5 in the first three overs of their run chase.
Home and hosed!— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) The moment the @ThunderBBL secured victory and a spot in The Challenger against the Sixers. #BBL14 pic.twitter.com/KPx1Yp7uX0January 22, 2025
The Thunder proved capable of inflicting similar early damage as paceman Nathan McAndrew dismissed both openers to push the Stars to 2-15 in the powerplay on Wednesday night.
Silk admitted the current iteration of a David Warner-led Thunder proposed a formidable opponent for Friday night, but remained bullish of their chances.
"We'll have to be absolutely at our best to knock them off tomorrow," Silk said.
"In these key games, we've shown that in the history of the BBL that when push comes to shove, we often come through with goods."
