The second part of the double header in the Big Bash League on Saturday sees the action returning to Tasmania where the Melbourne Renegades take on the Perth Scorchers in a battle of two former champions at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart.
This will be the first match of the competition for these two sides and it goes without saying that both will be eager to get their campaign underway with a victory, but they will both know that a significant hurdle stands in front of them if they are going to achieve that.
Melbourne Renegades
Clearly last term was not one that the Melbourne Renegades would have wanted and their side this season is almost unrecognisable as a result of that but that isn’t to say it looks a bad one. Other than the season they won the title, the Renegades have been guilty of underperforming in this competition so it is no surprise that they bit the bullet at the end of last term and turned over a huge amount of players.
The big thing for the Renegades this season is that they have Aaron Finch around for as long as they want to play him. He is going to lead their batting very nicely but there are good back ups in that area. Where the Renegades let themselves down last term and in seasons prior to that was with the ball. Their inability to take wickets really hurt them. Changes have been made in that area and they need to come good. Michael Klinger has a bit to prove as a coach too.
Perth Scorchers
Injuries haven’t helped the Perth Scorchers in recent times and neither have international call ups. In the main they have avoided the latter so if they can keep their key players on the park and them not get injured you would expect them to have a decent season. Their fortunes haven’t been brilliant since Justin Langer left as coach but Adam Voges has done a decent enough job given the issues they have had personnel wise in that time.
The one thing Perth Scorchers have been famed for throughout the time of BBL has been a very strong bowling attack and when you look through their ranks they seem to have that once again here so if their batting can come good then they are likely to put together another postseason push and we’ve seen in the past that when they get into that stage of a campaign they can be very hard to beat. A win here to build up some confidence would be very nice.
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Team News
Melbourne Renegades have named Aaron Finch in their side for this match while Benny Howell and Rilee Rossouw will be the overseas players with Mohammad Nabi completing his quarantine stint. Cameron Boyce misses out through injury.
Perth Scorchers have their captain Mitchell Marsh fit for this match despite him exiting the IPL early. That means that Ashton Agar is the only player currently with the squad who is unavailable. Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone are quarantining so Joe Clarke and Colin Munro will fill the overseas roles.
Betting
We saw in the first match on this ground on Thursday that the pitch and the outfield are in excellent nick and we also saw that there is a short boundary to one side or corner which the players can target safe in the knowledge that the pitch isn’t going to offer up any demons. I expect both these teams to do just that. I’ve already laid my colours to the mast in that I’m expecting a high scoring season with the format chances and I expect that to be the case here.
These two teams are full of power in their batting and have plenty of depth to it as well and there isn’t much in the way of mystery or mystique to either bowling attack either. The runs line here is 325.5 which feels a touch on the low side to me. That might be because of the famed Perth bowling attack which would be fair enough but they’ll do well to operate like they can on the great batting wickets at Blundstone. I’m comfortable that this match clears 325.5 runs.
Tips
Back Over 325.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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