The second half of the double header in the Big Bash League on Saturday sees the competition keeping up its tradition of the New Year’s Eve spectacular coming from the Adelaide Oval where this year the Melbourne Stars are the opponents for the Adelaide Strikers.
The Strikers have slipped down to third in the table after a good start to the season while the Melbourne Stars haven’t been able to find anything so far this term and could really do with a pick-me-up to take into 2023 with them.
Adelaide Strikers
The Adelaide Strikers hit the ground running with three wins in their opening three matches this season but they have dropped their last two and that has allowed the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers to overtake them so the home side will be looking to end 2022 with a bang here. Adelaide are the traditional hosts of the New Year’s Eve game in the Big Bash so they will know how to perform on the occasion which is a big thing.
If the Strikers are going to turn their form around then they probably needs a little bit more from their batters. They haven’t been terrible by any stretch of the imagination but there are a few more runs in them and if they come out when with the quality of their bowling unit they are going to be hard to beat. Adelaide have won both of their home matches in pretty convincing fashion so far so that will give them some confidence for this one.
Melbourne Stars
This has been a bit of a wretched season which hasn’t really got going for the Melbourne Stars yet. They had what felt like a good win over the Hobart Hurricanes in their second game but in the four matches they have played either side of that they have come up short. To be fair, their last three defeats were against the Sydney Sixers and twice to the Perth Scorchers who are always the standard setters in the competition so they can probably be given a little bit of slack in those.
The problem I have with the Stars is that they haven’t really been competitive in any of those three matches. I also prefer it when a team is showing something in one of the disciplines of the game but they aren’t really bowling that great and their top order with the exception of Joe Clarke, who while he is the leading scorer in the tournament has his stats padded by his ton against the Hurricanes when he was dropped on one, isn’t really delivering the goods. Given the talent in their squad the Stars have underperformed for far too long now.
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Key Players
I always feel like the big occasions bring the big players out to play and they rise to the setting and I expect Chris Lynn to do exactly that. Lynn struggles against mystery spin but the only spin the Melbourne Stars will be sending down is Adam Zampa and he’s faced more than enough of him to be able to combat that threat.
Joe Clarke is the leading run scorer in the tournament and you really need to get off to a decent start with the bat against the Adelaide Strikers because once you let their bowling attack get on top of you carnage usually ensues. The Englishman could be key to the outcome here.
Betting
The Adelaide Strikers look a good deal better than the Melbourne Stars to me and I expect that to translate on the field here too. To be fair to the Stars, they have had a rotten end of the schedule here having to fly to Perth to play on Thursday and then less than 48hrs later be in Adelaide for a match of this magnitude. That would be a tough slog if everyone was fit and firing and confidence was high but it isn’t and Nathan Coulter-Nile was off the field with a hamstring injury on Thursday so you would have to imagine he is a doubt here which would be a big blow.
Adelaide have lost their last two matches but they have been competitive in them and just come out on the wrong side of the margins which can happen in this format of the game. I think their bowling attack remains top class and while they are a batter down I think they can make up for that here with their home conditions. Adelaide are only giving up 3.5 wickets or 8.5 runs and I don’t think it is too much of an ask against a poor and jaded Stars side. I expect Adelaide to cover.
Tips
Back Adelaide Strikers (-3.5 wickets/8.5 runs) to beat Melbourne Stars for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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