The penultimate game of the Big Bash League regular season takes place in the middle match of the triple header on Wednesday when the Sydney Thunder take on the Melbourne Renegades at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Renegades go into the match knowing they need to better the Brisbane Heat result from earlier in the day to avoid the wooden spoon once again, whereas the Sydney Thunder will be hoping to better the Sydney Sixers result in order to finish in the top two and get that second bite at the cherry for making the final if they need it.
Sydney Thunder
The Sydney Thunder have been one of the best teams in the competition this season but when the time has come to hammer down second spot in the table they have been found wanting a little and that will disappoint them and their coaching staff. They are still guaranteed a playoff spot but need to either better the result of the Sixers earlier in the day or overhaul the net run rate deficiency they have on their Sydney rivals in order to finish second.
One thing the Thunder will be eager to do is win the match. They have lost their last two matches so whether the win gets them into second or not the key thing is that they don’t go into the playoffs off the back of three losses on the trot. Things have just gone a little sour with bat and ball in the last couple of games. They have conceded 177 and 197 in their last two matches and faltered with the bat on both occasions. A complete performance is needed here regardless of the result it creates.
Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades are having to back up a performance from Tuesday here, which regular readers will know I always point out isn’t easy. It certainly isn’t easy when you lose a match you should have won the day before as that emotional baggage can hang around. The Renegades needed 22 from 15 balls to beat the Hobart Hurricanes on Tuesday and in truth never really got close, which is indicative of their season.
It is very rare that the same team finishes bottom of the pile for three seasons in a row in these franchise competitions but that is the position which the Renegades will be in should they lose this match. There were signs of encouragement against the Hurricanes on Tuesday but that won’t count for a lot if they are unable to back that up. Whatever happens here, you sense a big close season is going to take place within Renegades HQ.
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Team News
The Sydney Thunder have Usman Khawaja available for the first time this season after he has been made available by Australia. He is set to skipper the side and could come in for Ollie Davies. Mohammad Hasnain has completed his overseas stint now.
Melbourne Renegades have said they will name a new squad for this match but given the shortage of time between the Tuesday game and this one you wouldn’t expect too many changes, especially given that they actually performed well in defeat against the Hurricanes.
Betting
I’m not really interested in a bet that involves the Melbourne Renegades in this match. I say that for a couple of reasons, the first being that they are backing up an emotionally tough loss the day after that Hobart Hurricanes defeat, with the second being that they aren’t really playing for anything so I don’t really want to rely on them to do anything. That is fine though because we have a way in on the Sydney Thunder in this one.
I’ll take the chance that the Thunder have to win this match and win it big to overhaul the Sydney Sixers into second in the table and with that in mind I’ll play them to hit more than 12.5 fours. I think going with fours is the better options as hitting sixes here isn’t easy. I like them to hit fours because if they are chasing an improvement on their net run rate they might as well go all guns blazing but even if they are not it might be that a four point win will be needed to finish second in which case they might shove bigger hitters up the order to get the Bash Boost point. We also have the other option that if any win will do for the Thunder they will be able to express themselves and hit a barrel load of fours. Sydney Thunder have played twice on this ground this season, hitting 13 fours in the first one and 16 in the second. There isn’t much about this Renegades attack so I expect the Thunder to clobber more than 12.5 fours here.
Tips
WON – Back Sydney Thunder – Over 12.5 fours for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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