The Sydney Sixers will look to give themselves two shots at making the Big Bash League final on Saturday when they host the current champions Melbourne Renegades in the first part of the double header of action in the competition.
The Renegades know already that whatever happens in their last two matches they won’t be defending their title in the postseason, so this one is all about the Sixers, who know if they win this final regular season game they’ll go to Melbourne in the playoffs if Adelaide don’t beat Hobart on Sunday.
Sydney Sixers
The Sydney Sixers are finishing the season in fine touch and when they have avoided the rain they have generally won matches this term. The one anomaly to that was when they went to the Melbourne Stars and got exposed but that really is the freak point of their season. Generally they are incredibly good with the ball and they have plenty of good options with the bat, who are solid rather than flashy, but one or two can get on with it.
There was always a feeling that the Sixers would finish the season well because they were going to get their Test players back for the run in. The key was to make sure they were in position to capitalise on that when it happened and they did exactly that. They will now feel they have all the tools in place to go all the way in the competition, and that will be helped further if they can land themselves in second place in the table.
Melbourne Renegades
When you look at the ledger of the Melbourne Renegades and see that they have won two and lost 10 this season you could think this has been a terrible campaign, but they have actually played better than their record suggests, they just haven’t finished matches off very well and as a result they haven’t converted enough winning positions. That was the case once again in their previous match against the Hobart Hurricanes.
They just haven’t had that finisher in their batting innings that has either taken good scores to unassailable ones or to get them over the line when the matches have gotten tight. That is an area they will need to improve for next season but they really aren’t too far away. There is no reason why they can’t be competitive in their final two matches, but whether they get over the line in them remains to be seen.
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Team News
The Sydney Sixers have made one change to their squad for this contest with another Test player returning in the form of Josh Hazlewood. He comes in for Ben Manenti in what is a strong looking Sixers squad.
Melbourne Renegades have a couple of international players back in Aaron Finch and Kane Richardson but they will be without a pair of their stars of the season so far as Shaun Marsh and Sam Harper are both out injured.
Betting
I expect the Sydney Sixers to win this match. They easily beat the Melbourne Renegades in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and the two leading batsmen for the Renegades that day are both out injured here which isn’t going to help a great deal. When you factor in that since then the Sixers have got Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Steve Smith back I have to fear a little for the 2019 champions I have to admit.
The Sixers are a little bit short to back though so I’m going to put a little juice in the price by taking them on the handicap which isn’t the biggest at 2.5 wickets or 6.5 runs. Anything closer than that and you would think the Renegades are playing well enough to get the job done but with all the motivation and the top class stars with the home side I’ve got to think they’ve got another comfortable win in them here.
Tips
WON – Back Sydney Sixers (-2.5 wickets or 6.5 runs) to beat Melbourne Renegades for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
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