The second half of the double header in the Big Bash League on Saturday sees the tournament heading to the west for the first time this season as the former champions Perth Scorchers take on the current holders of the title in Melbourne Renegades.
These two sides have played a match each this term, with similar outcomes. The Scorchers were mauled by the Sydney Sixers while the Melbourne Renegades ran into a Sydney Thunder side who were just too hot for them.
Perth Scorchers
The concern going into the tournament was how the Perth Scorchers would look with the bat and the answer was that they did not look good against the Sixers. They folded in a heap in the powerplay and while a bit of late order biffing gave them something to bowl at, you never truly thought they were going to have a chance of defending it. If the Perth outfit are going to get this title back they must find a way to put up totals with the bat.
The other thing they are going to need to do is ensure they can devise a plan that allows them to defend scores on their home ground. This is an all-purpose arena so it isn’t the biggest playing area known to man. To be fair, their attack on paper looks like it can be competitive, but it got shown up in Sydney and will need to have taken that on the chin and come again. It should function a lot better here.
Melbourne Renegades
For a good chunk of their opening match, the Melbourne Renegades actually looked in a good place. They had put up a competitive total on the board, although if they are critical of themselves they will know that they got a lot of starts and needed someone to go on and post the imposing score which nobody took responsibility to do. That was a trait of theirs last year and is something that will have to change if they are to dominate this season.
The surprising thing in that opening match was how impotent they looked with the ball. When you go down their attack man for man it stands up to most in the competition, but they were unable to get any pressure on two classy Sydney Thunder openers and then the longer the innings went the harder it got. That might have been a wake up call to remind them that just because they are the champions nothing is going to come easy for them. If they heed that advice they’ll be fine.
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Team News
Perth Scorchers have dropped Sam Whiteman from their squad and replaced with him the local player Liam Guthrie, a pace man that is going to give them another bowling option should they need it here.
Melbourne Renegades have brought spinner Tom Andrews into their squad with Alex Doolan departing the scene. Shaun Marsh will go up against his former club for the first time so all eyes will be on him here.
Betting
I will be interested to see how this one goes and as the Melbourne Renegades are my pick to win the tournament I can approach this match with an air of caution. The only reason I say that is because we are still seeing this pitch at the Optus Stadium bed in. It got better the longer the campaign went on last term so I’ll be interested to see how it plays here. With that said, I’m leaving the match outcome alone and taking one from the side markets.
That comes in the form of the performance of Dan Christian, which looks quite low at 30.5 given the role he will play in the action. He’ll bat at six, and could go higher if a finisher is needed, will field in the key positions and he’ll bowl in some of the big overs. He actually stuck in two wonderful displays against the Perth Scorchers last season. In Melbourne he took 3/22, took a catch and hit 13 runs for an 83 point tally and then here in Perth he recorded 4/20, took two catches and hit 10 runs for a 110 final score. There’s something he likes about playing Perth because the year before for Hobart he took 4/17 and clobbered 37 in 22 balls. Quite clearly 30.5pts looks too low.
Tips
Back D.Christian’s Performance – Over 30.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with 888sport
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