The Melbourne Renegades head into the new campaign with plenty of people believing this could be their year to come through and win a maiden title. Andrew McDonald has taken over as coach and former New Zealand bowling coach Dimitri Mascarenhas is the bowling coach and they have put together a canny looking side.
Stats
Last Season: 5th
Captain: Aaron Finch
Overseas Players: Dwayne Bravo & Sunil Narine
Key Player: Cameron White
Best Odds: 5/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 1st
Fixtures
Thursday December 22 – Sydney Thunder (h)
Thursday December 29 – Perth Scorchers (h)
Sunday January 1 – Melbourne Stars (a)
Saturday January 7 – Melbourne Stars (h)
Monday January 9 – Sydney Sixers (a)
Thursday January 12 – Hobart Hurricanes (h)
Monday January 16 – Adelaide Strikers (a)
Friday January 20 – Brisbane Heat (a)
Preview
Players In: Sunil Narine, Brad Hogg, Marcus Harris, Matthew Short
Players Out: Nathan Hauritz, Guy Walker, Cameron Gannon, Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle hasn’t been retained after his controversial interview of last year but I don’t think that is necessarily the loss it could have been. Of course anyone would like the World Boss in their side but the cash they would have to have blown on him has been able to be used better to bring in more players to compliment what they already had.
The Renegades have always carried power with the bat. Cameron White, Aaron Finch, Tom Cooper and Matthew Wade are among the best in the country with the willow but they have struggled to contain sides with the ball. Sunil Narine’s addition gives them control while James Pattinson’s expected availability makes the seam department much stronger. Suddenly there is no weakness to the Renegades and it would be a huge surprise if they are not contending this season.
Betting
Aaron Finch being away for the second half of the season opens up the top batsman market for the Renegades but we have already taken Cameron White to be the leading batsman in the tournament and there is no need to back him in this market at short prices.
The bowler market is dominated by the West Indian duo which is fair enough because they are both class acts. I fancy teams might sit on Sunil Narine a little more in this tournament and he might not be the wicket taking threat the Renegades would like which opens it up for Dwayne Bravo to come through.
Bravo will be full of confidence after his franchise won the Bangladesh Premier League recently and we know how well he has done in the Indian Premier League too. The fact Narine is in the side means teams may have to slog at the end to get up to a respectable score and it might be that towards the death sides are a few down and it is the tail trying to go at it. Bravo can outfox most at that stage of an innings and 5/2 looks a fair price on him leading the wickets for the men in red this season.
Tips
Back D.Bravo Top Melbourne Renegades Tournament Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with Unibet
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