Two sides looking to push forward and into the top four meet in the Big Bash League on Monday when the Sydney Sixers host the Melbourne Renegades at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The Sixers sit in third place going into the match and a win will move them up to second while the Melbourne Renegades are just outside the top four but will move third with a win of their own.
Sydney Sixers
You would have to say that the Sydney Sixers have been indifferent in this tournament but when they have been good they have been good enough to get the job done. I’m not convinced we’ve seen the best of them yet either and if that is the case the former winners can be excited about what is to come.
Their bowling attack has performed very well in the tournament so far. If there has been a weakness it has clearly been in the batting department and the loss of Jason Roy and Sam Billings isn’t helpful with that in mind but they still have enough good players. They just need them to step up like we’ve seen other sides do.
Melbourne Renegades
We will find out a lot about the Melbourne Renegades here and in many ways their season is going to either come good or they are going to fade away. They will be looking to bounce back from a pretty hefty defeat to the Melbourne Stars in the derby on Saturday. That was their first poor performance in the competition though so they shouldn’t be written off too quickly.
The Australian selectors have done the Renegades a nice turn by not calling up Aaron Finch to the ODI squad and the red men will hope he can inspire the side to a strong end to the season. The Renegades know they have the bowling attack so if they can just ensure they bat properly they will be fine.
Team News
Sydney Sixers get three big players back for them from Australia duty. Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird are all back while Michael Lumb has replaced Jason Roy as overseas player.
Melbourne Renegades have made three changes to the squad which got demolished by the Stars. Tom Beaton, Thisara Perera and Xavier Doherty come in for Marcus Harris, Trent Lawford and Nathan Rimmington.
Betting
The odds suggest this one is a 50/50 match and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that. Both sides are very similar in their performance levels so far. They have both largely struggled with the bat while both have excelled with the ball in the main and I don’t expect those trends to change here.
I was tempted to back the sixes in this match because we have to remember that there has just been a Test match on this ground so I’m guessing that there will be a short boundary somewhere but both these sides have an attack to defend that so I will go for the other bet which looks fairly obvious in a battle of arguably the two best attacks in the competition.
That is the under on the total runs line. At 335.5 the line looks a bit too high to me. The two matches here so far have yielded scores of 340 and 262 with the former being when D’Arcy Short surprised everyone. The Sixers’ attack has strengthened since then and with neither side convincing with the bat that number looks a shade high.
Tips
Back Under 335.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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