Big Bash Match Previews & Tips – 28th & 29th December

Despite losing their first two games the Perth Scorchers will go in as favourites against the Adelaide Strikers tonight.

The Strikers have two wins and two loses to this point.  They will welcome back Alex Carey who was unavailable against the Heat due to a quarantine issue but look likely to lose leg spinner Rashid Khan with an injury.

I have been strong in my praise for the Scorchers this year.  They have a number of quality batsman at the top of their order and its only a matter of time before they get going.  Once the batting clicks and they post a big score they will have no problem defending it.

The Scorchers need to start winning and I am backing them to do so here.

The Renegades have lost three in a row since their opening round victory over the Scorchers.  They have struggled with the bat and are in desperate need of runs from Aaron Finch and veteran Shaun Marsh at the top of the order.

The Sixers on the other hand are ticking along very nicely and are right on track to make another assault on the title.  They have the very good habit of finding a way to win and there is no better example of that than their clash with the Stars on Boxing Day.

The Sixers looked dead and buried a number of times but a determined innings from stand in captain Daniel Hughes (96) along with middle order cameos from Christian, Holder and Braithwaite was enough to get them over the line.

Whilst there have been some upsets in recent nights the Sydney Sixers should be too strong for the Renegades.

Second plays fourth as the two teams in Green look to cement a position in the top 5 on the table.

The Thunder have been the surprise packets of the competition this year.  They have now won three games in a row now and it has been largely thanks to some of their younger players.

20 year old Oliver Davies has been a revelation for the Thunder.  He has 84 runs at an average of 42 and has shown he has the ability to clear the fences.

With the ball it has been 19 year old Tanveer Sanga – he took 4/14 in the Thunders win over the Melbourne Renegades on boxing day.  An exciting talent!

As I alluded to earlier the Stars were involved in one of the great games of BBL cricket on boxing day.  They were in big trouble early, slumping to 4/49 with tbe bat, before a master class in boundary hitting from Glenn Maxwell and Nicholas Pooran saw them post 193 – a total that was well above par.

It was a night to forget with the ball for the Stars. In a rare occurrence leg spinner Adam Zampa conceded over 11 runs per over from his 4 overs as Daniel Hughes launched him into the stands on multiple occasions.  However it was a break down in communication which lead to Glenn Maxwell being forced to bowl the last over that ended up costing the Stars.  It should of been Coulter-Nile however he was deemed unable to bowl after spending time off the ground during the previous overs.  Maxwell conceded 20 as the Sixers past the Stars total with a ball to spare.

Importantly, the Stars will regain Marcus Stoinis for this clash & I am expecting them to bounce back in a big way.  After starting the tournament with two wins they will be determined not to slip back into the pack.

Multi | 1.5 Units @ 2.94

• Perth Scorchers (Win) 
• Melbourne Stars (Win)

Overall: – 5.93 Units

*Please note the maximum outlay on a single outcome is 2.5 units