There are two Big Bash League matches before the day off on Christmas Day and the first of those comes on Monday as the Adelaide Oval opens its doors to the tournament for the first time in this campaign as the Adelaide Strikers take on the Perth Scorchers.
The Strikers have only played one match so far this season, one which saw them suffer a no result when the smoke came in against the Sydney Thunder. The Scorchers have played twice with a poor loss to the Sydney Sixers and a good win over the Melbourne Renegades.
Adelaide Strikers
It is hard to make too much of a judgement against the Adelaide Strikers in that opening match. They struggled initially with the bat, but we did see some of their added depth with the willow, something that will be needed over the remainder of this campaign if they are going to get anything positive out of it. We didn’t really get a chance to look at all their bowling options, although it must be said they looked a bowler light on paper.
You would expect Adelaide to go better with the bat here. Naturally they will be familiar to conditions here and the dimensions of the ground just suit them a whole lot more. That means their success or otherwise from the match could come down to their bowling effort and if they can force batsmen to hit down the ground in particular then they are going to be in the game you would think, as they look to get off the mark for their season.
Perth Scorchers
After a very dodgy opening to their campaign, the Perth Scorchers got off the mark for the year in fine style last time out when they took care of the defending champions Melbourne Renegades. They would probably have wanted to bowl a little better than they did but on a belter of a wicket in a small stadium, just being able to defend a score says a lot about their qualities. With the bat they were nearly perfect.
They batted in a way we are not accustomed to seeing from the Scorchers. Usually they are very steady and look to keep wickets in hand for an assault late on in the innings, but that is not how this one played out. They were aggressive from the outset and apart from building partnerships they never really relented from that. They probably do need to play with such freedom because their bowlers will not be defending tiny scores as often given who they are missing in that department.
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Team News
Peter Siddle has now departed the Adelaide Strikers’ ranks and headed for the Australian Test squad for his Boxing Day duty. Liam O’Connor has come into what is an otherwise unchanged setup for the Strikers.
Matt Kelly missed the win over the Renegades with illness and that has forced him to be left at home for the trip to Adelaide. Sam Whiteman is the man who will come into the squad in his place, but you would think the Perth Scorchers will be unchanged for this outing.
Betting
I would like a little longer to assist both the Adelaide Strikers and the Adelaide Oval this season so I’m not in a rush to plough into any of the main markets. My gut is telling me the Strikers might get the job done here but any chances of acting on that went when Peter Siddle left to join up with the Australia squad. I do sense there might be some spin in the wicket in Adelaide but I’ll need to see it first.
I will take one bet though and that comes in the performance line of a player, on this occasion Chris Jordan. He has had an excellent start to the campaign with a brace of wickets in both matches and I don’t see why that won’t continue here. He also took three catches against the Melbourne Renegades last time out and as one of the best fielders in the world he will always be in good catching positions. He’s handy with the bat down the order as well and when you put all that together he should be comfortably clearing 29.5pts. I’m on the over.
Tips
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