The two sides in the middle of the Big Bash League table meet on Monday when the Hobart Hurricanes host the Melbourne Stars with the game taking place in Launceston. This will be the second meeting between the two this term with the Stars running out winners in the reverse fixture.
A place in the top three of the table heading into the New Year is the reward on offer for the winner so this is a pretty big game in the season of both sides. Defeat will just begin to leave the losers playing a little catch up which wouldn’t be ideal.
Hobart Hurricanes
With a 2-1 record for the season so far, you would have to say that this has been a positive beginning to the campaign for the Hobart Hurricanes, but there is no way that we can ignore the weakness that they have shown to date. That has come in their batting where they are yet to make 150 in the tournament. That is something that is clearly going to have to change here if they are to do anything this term.
I wasn’t sure about the Hobart Hurricanes going into the season and given that their wins have been against the Sydney Sixers in a game they should have lost, and the Melbourne Renegades who have lost every match they have played to date, I’m still not convinced about them. They have the chance to prove their worth here. To be fair to them, they might not have batted very well but they have impressed with the ball in the main.
Melbourne Stars
The Stars have the same record as the Hobart Hurricanes but they were more dominant in their victories, one of which came against the Hurricanes in Moe but the Melbourne outfit do go into this match off the back of a defeat against the Adelaide Strikers, which to be fair given the way they have opened up the season, doesn’t look as bad as it might have done in terms of the bare numbers. That is not to say they don’t have issues of their own.
It looks from the outside that their best batting tactic is to hope that Glenn Maxwell comes off and to panic if he doesn’t. That might be a tactic that comes off more than not, purely because of how good the Australian is, but it can’t be one that is relied upon. The Stars will hope their bowling has a better day than it did against Adelaide because they were a touch ordinary at times, especially late into the innings.
Place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
The Hurricanes will have former Stars star Scott Boland available for the first time this season. He replaces Tom Rogers in the squad but it could be that the Hobart outfit are unchanged, with Matthew Wade still on Test duty.
The Melbourne Stars have named an unchanged squad for the match with the Hobart Hurricanes and it is likely that the starting XI will be the same too because the two who missed out are clearly weaker than the 11 who played.
Betting
I’m not convinced as much as I would like to be about either of these two sides when it comes to putting a bet on them to win the match. I would probably side with the Melbourne Stars if I was being forced to because they have convinced me more with the bat but I have enough respect for the Hobart Hurricanes especially on a ground which hasn’t been used very often in the Big Bash so we are still really finding out about its credentials.
The bet I am going to take though is the performance of Glenn Maxwell, which looks insanely low at 36.5 given the form he is in. Already in this tournament he has smashed 83 against the Brisbane Heat and 43 against the Adelaide Strikers and although he failed against the Hurricanes with the bat, he took two wickets in the game. He also has a catch to his name too. He has covered this line in all three matches and given how strongly he is involved in T20 matches I have to take the over again here.
Tips
VOID – Back G.Maxwell’s Performance – Over 36.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with 888sport
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
