We have another double header in the Big Bash League on Sunday and it kicks off with the one side yet to get their campaign up and running doing so when the Adelaide Strikers take on the Hobart Hurricanes at Blundstone Arena.
The Hurricanes were involved in the opening match of the competition which they won so they will be looking to join the Melbourne Stars on two wins. The Strikers will want to get off to a fast start so this one is nicely poised.
Adelaide Strikers
You never truly know how a side is going to play until you see them in action for the first time, particularly this year when players have had so long out of the game with the pandemic but when you look down this Strikers outfit the squad is very reminiscent to the one Jason Gillespie has been coaching at Sussex in the T20 Blast, not least because it contains three players from the English side in Phil Salt, Danny Briggs and Rashid Khan.
The initial assessment of the Strikers outfit is that they are going to be pretty good with the ball but they just look a little light with the bat, especially while Alex Carey is away with Australia A. His absence could be felt strongly although the addition of Matt Renshaw should help slightly with that. You get the feeling that the Strikers chances in this match will depend on whether they can put up a decent score, especially here on a high scoring ground.
Hobart Hurricanes
You couldn’t say it was a perfect performance from the Hobart Hurricanes in the opening match. Whenever the openers depart without scoring there is always more to come but they deserve a whole lot of credit for bouncing back from that to put a very good score up and then although they were not able to get the Bash Boost point, when the game looked to be getting away from them they found a way to get back in and never passed up the chance to win.
Winning when you haven’t played well is a good trait in a side and that is something that will delight the Hobart Hurricanes players and staff. The challenge for them now is to build on that display and while there is natural improvement to come in terms of the openers getting runs and one or two bowlers who weren’t at their best in the first game coming on for the run, that needs to come out if they are going to win this one.
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Team News
Adelaide Strikers will be without their captain Travis Head who is away with Australia while Alex Carey is with the Australia A squad and will miss this match. Peter Siddle will skipper the side with Danny Briggs and Matt Renshaw expected to make their debuts.
Hobart Hurricanes could well name an unchanged side for this match as Matthew Wade remains away with Australia and Dawid Malan is still going through his quarantine period. If anyone does come in then it could be Caleb Jewell who wasn’t used as a substitute in the first game.
Betting
I’m a little worried about the batting for the Adelaide Strikers in this match so I’m with the Hobart Hurricanes. I also think they’ve got a couple of things going for them here. The first thing is the match is that their home ground so they will know conditions and how to use them to their advantage. The other thing they have going for them is that they have played a match this term under the new rules and I think that might be significant.
There are a couple of teams I expect to get better the longer this tournament goes on and the Strikers are one of them. I just think right now this is a bad match for them unless someone has a day out with the bat to make up for the absence of Head and Carey. There are plenty of players who can do that for the Hurricanes though and it isn’t very often that D’Arcy Short misses out twice, which would be another concern for the Strikers. At odds against I’ll take the Hurricanes here.
Tips
WON – Back Hobart Hurricanes to beat Adelaide Strikers for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
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