Two top four sides meet in the second match of the two in the Big Bash League on Wednesday when the table topping Melbourne Stars go up against the Sydney Thunder in what should be an exciting end to the double header of action.
The Stars have laid out their credentials for the season already, but the Thunder have shown plenty of good things in their own right so these two confident sides should collide to produce some very competitive cricket.
Melbourne Stars
You have to give the Melbourne Stars credit for their start to the season. After making a mess of the final in the way they did last term, it would have been easy for a hangover to linger over them, but there has been none of that and they have come out and won five of their six matches to date, and on another day could easily have won the other. I keep saying it but I still don’t think the Stars have hit top gear yet either, which is something for the rest to be concerned about.
One area where the Stars are in excellent form is with the ball. They have restricted their last two opponents to exactly 142 and a side with the depth of batting that they have, and the quality that they possess in their batting ranks, isn’t going to lose too many matches from there. You get the feeling that they are already looking ahead too with subtle changes to the batting order to ensure everyone stays in good nick.
Sydney Thunder
After encouraging wins in their opening two matches, it has been a frustrating period for the Sydney Thunder with two matches heavily affected by the weather yielding just one point and in another they were beaten via a super over. The other game came against the Melbourne Stars, again a game they lost but with two balls to spare so that could easily have gone the other way as well. They remain in a good position, but they could do with a win for morale and belief.
The Thunder should feel at home at the MCG because they have a lot of spinners in their ranks and with the big boundaries here they can give the ball some air safe in the knowledge that they are well protected out in the deep. This ground might also suit their batsmen who like to put the ball into gaps and run hard so the Sydney outfit should be quietly confident when they head over to Melbourne for this one.
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Team News
Hilton Cartwright is back in the squad for the Melbourne Stars in this one. Dale Steyn has now left the tournament. He was due to be replaced by Pat Brown but the Worcestershire seamer has been ruled out of the event so Haris Rauf comes in instead.
Sydney Thunder have named an unchanged squad for this match which is probably fair given that a) they don’t have many other options currently, and b) conditions and match situations have beaten them as much as anything else.
Betting
I took the under in boundaries in the last match on this ground and I’m taking the same thing again. There were only 31 boundaries when these two met in the reverse fixture in Sydney on a ground which is not as big as this one is in Melbourne and I don’t see any more being hit on this vast ground. There were only 29 boundaries in the first game here and while that was a low scoring game, I’m not convinced this will be much higher.
Both the bowling attacks are well suited to this ground. Melbourne Stars play two quality mystery spinners and the Pakistan recruit Haris Rauf isn’t going to go for many either. Daniel Sams has been solid for the Sydney Thunder and their three spinners have been hard to get away as well. There is probably an all-rounder too many in both sides which might well help to keep the scoring low so I’m happy to be on under 31.5 boundaries here.
Tips
WON – Back Under 31.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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