The third match of the Big Bash League season sees the Sydney Thunder and the Melbourne Stars heading to the capital, Canberra, to begin their campaigns. The Thunder will be looking to regain their title while the Stars will be out to win it for the first time.
These two were among the worst sides in the competition last season and so both will be out to show they are better than that and get in and amongst the top four. The extra matches mean there isn’t as much pressure on these first games this year, but in light of what happened to these two last season you sense this is an important battle.
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Sydney Thunder
I think it is fair to say the Thunder underachieved last season based on the ability that they had within their squad, but at the same time we should acknowledge that it is never easy to defend a title of this kind. Even though that is the case I still think that the Thunder would have been disappointed with how the previous campaign played out.
The strength of the Thunder heading into this match comes with the bat where they look like they have a very powerful top five. If there is an issue then it could come in the form of the fact that most of their top order would want to open which could create some problems. That look solid with the ball without being outstandingly spectacular.
Melbourne Stars
It was an absolute disaster of a season for the Melbourne Stars last year and they duly finished bottom of the pile with nothing of note to build on. Too many of their players forgot to leave their egos behind and played for themselves and it was clear from pretty early on that a bunch of individuals were not going to get anywhere.
Changes have been undertaken ahead of this season and much more is expected from the Stars. They have less of the outstanding campaigners and combined experience with youth in more of a team environment. They have a couple of leading lights who can win matches on their own and all of a sudden they look a much more competitive unit. They now have to show that on the field.
Team News
Sydney Thunder will be without Australian Test duo Usman Khawaja and Pat Cummins but England pair Jos Buttler and Joe Root are around to begin the competition. Shane Watson leads the side once again with Callum Ferguson out to impress.
Melbourne Stars will give debuts to their overseas pair of Dwayne Bravo and Sandeep Lamichhane in what will be Glenn Maxwell’s first game in charge. Ben Dunk will open the batting but Peter Handscomb remains with the Australia squad.
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Betting
The Manuka Oval is a high scoring ground so I’m expecting the runs to flow quite naturally in this match. Both teams have plenty of power in their batting departments and while they are competent with the ball I think the nature of the pitch and the dimension of the ground will see the batsmen come out on top here. We’ve seen a couple of low scoring matches so far but this can buck that trend and I like over 328.5 runs as a result.
I also like Glenn Maxwell to cover a performance line of 34.5. I’ve a feeling he is going to open the batting in this match but whether it is that he bats he’ll go on the attack and if he is in for 20 balls or so he’ll have this covered. As captain though I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bowl more than the odd over and as a dynamite fielder he’ll be in the key areas in the field. That should all combine to see the over land in this one.
Tips
VOID – Back Over 328.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bet365
Back G.Maxwell’s Performance – Over 34.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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