The second part of the double header in the Big Bash League on Boxing Day is the reverse meeting between the top team in the league going into the day and the bottom one as the Perth Scorchers host the Melbourne Renegades.
This is a Scorchers home match but they will be disadvantaged by playing the game at the home venue of their opposition because Perth is unable to stage any games. That will test their siege mentality and test their mettle.
Perth Scorchers
The Perth Scorchers kept up their unbeaten start when they beat the Melbourne Renegades in the reverse meeting between these two teams on Tuesday and they will be looking for a relatively quick double against the men in red. I don’t think the Scorchers were perfect in that match but the periods they were on top for they were dominant and in the end they ran out possibly more comfortable winners than they might have deserved to be.
In the main the Scorchers are going very well with the bat. Their effort against the Renegades was the first time they have really batted as a collective this season. Their bowlers went round the park in that match but it was such a good pitch that we can’t hold that against them. The one thing I would be cautious with is Ashton Turner leaving a spinner to bowl the latter overs. That doesn’t tend to work too often in these conditions.
Melbourne Renegades
Although they lost the last game to the Perth Scorchers, there were certainly some positives for the Melbourne Renegades to take from that match. Ultimately it was their third defeat in four matches and they need to find a win soon to avoid memories of the last two seasons where they finished bottom of the pile from resurfacing. They have probably played better than their results have suggested but they showed signs of a team who have forgotten how to win the close matches.
It is hard to be too harsh on their batters in the previous game because they were chasing so many. In actual fact I thought they gave it a real good go and certainly benefitted from the return of Aaron Finch. They let themselves down with the ball a bit though. Although it was a great wicket and Mitchell Marsh was in good touch, they did feed his arc a little too much and having not taken early wickets they kind of lost their way at the death.
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Team News
The Perth Scorchers haven’t announced a squad for this match at the time of writing but we know they can’t go back home so they are likely to have the same pool of players to pick from. After five wins in a row they could be unchanged here unless Kurtis Patterson is fit.
The Melbourne Renegades have chosen to make just the one change to their squad for this second encounter with the Perth Scorchers. That sees Jono Merlo coming in for James Seymour but you would imagine they will be unchanged after a decent effort last week.
Betting
We saw 20 sixes in what was an excellent game of cricket when these two met here prior to Christmas and I don’t really see any reason why we won’t get much of the same here. The square boundaries here are very accessible as we saw in that clash between these two last week and the straight boundaries aren’t long enough for the likes of Mitch Marsh, Aaron Finch and Nic Maddinson either so the sixes should come regularly enough here once again.
We might not get as many as 20 in this match but the line is only 10.5 so we don’t need to get anywhere near that total we got last time. When you consider that Josh Inglis didn’t hit a six in that first game then there is the potential for more to come along in this match. The bowlers aren’t going to have changed much and the shorter boundaries will be in range for two sides who look to be aggressive with the bat. I expect the over to land here.
Tips
Back Over 10.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
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