The cricket action down under is not just restricted to The Ashes on Wednesday, as once play at The Gabba has concluded a double header of Big Bash League cricket begins and it does so with the Hobart Hurricanes starting their campaign against the champions Sydney Sixers.
Sydney have already laid down a marker for the three-peat with an emphatic drubbing of the Melbourne Stars in their first game and the Hurricanes will be looking to use this outing to put an equal sounding board down.
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes missed out on the playoffs on net run rate last season so they will be eager to make up for that disappointment. I think the Hurricanes deserve to be cut a little bit of slack as international call ups really didn’t help their cause last term, but on the face of it at least they look less impacted this term and should naturally improve as a result of that. Hobart were only able to win two of their first seven matches last season so they will be keen to start out much stronger this term.
The Hobart Hurricanes have had a mixed build-up to this opening match. They looked like they had put a decent squad together but international call ups and now a random Covid case has forced them to change their plans at the last minute. To be fair they have moved quickly to bring reinforcements in for this opening match but how together the team will be remains to be seen. There is still enough talent to get the job done for the Hurricanes here though.
Sydney Sixers
Opening matches of a tournament simply don’t come any better than the one the Sydney Sixers had on Sunday. They absolutely demolished the Melbourne Stars and already look to have net run rate on their side down the line should a tie in points come along. I think it is fair to say the Sixers will have tougher tests in this competition but you can’t do much more than to beat what is put in front of you and the defending champions certainly did that.
Such was the strength of their performance that it was hard to determine whether they were better with the bat or the ball. I would suggest it was with the bat because they posted their franchise highest score in that match but then they were ruthless with the ball and in the field. If they happen to play to that level throughout the competition then they are going to be very hard to dethrone this term that is for sure.
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Team News
Hobart Hurricanes will be without overseas pair Harry Brook and Jordan Thompson with the former with the England Lions and the latter isolating after a Covid ping. Scott Boland is with Australia A and Ben McDermott is injured. Tom Lammonby and Jordan Cox have been signed at short notice to play here while Matthew Wade and Sandeep Lamichhane are available.
The Sydney Sixers could be forced into a couple of changes from the side which won so emphatically in the opening game. Dan Christian has just become a father for the first time and Sean Abbott is waiting to follow in his footsteps so both could miss out. Nick Winter and Lawrence Neil-Smith are in the squad just in case.
Betting
I think the odds for this match are a little more skewed than I would have expected. I suspect that is because of their emphatic display that the Sydney Sixers put in during their opening match but I’m not convinced that they beat anything in that match and I would expect the Hobart Hurricanes to put up a much stronger showing here, even allowing for the fact that they have had a disrupted build up to this match.
Hobart actually beat the Sixers in both matches last season and while I wouldn’t have them favourites here without the likes of McDermott and Brook, they do have a strong opening pair in D’Arcy Short and Matthew Wade and in Nathan Ellis they have a death bowler that a lot of teams lack while Sandeep Lamichhane provides mystery spin. If the new English pair hit the ground running, and they have been playing in Sydney so they should be acclimatised to conditions, then Hobart should go well here. There is a chance the Sixers could be without a couple of key pins in Dan Christian and Sean Abbott and all that put in the one melting pot makes me think the Hurricanes are an ounce of value here.
Tips
Back Hobart Hurricanes to beat Sydney Sixers for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Bet365
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