The bottom two in the Big Bash League table meet in the only match in the competition on Monday when the Melbourne Stars play host to the Brisbane Heat in what isn’t a dead rubber for the visitors but is for the home side.
They still have three matches left but the role for the Stars now is to play spoiler for a couple of teams. Brisbane Heat have four matches left in their regular season and they have to win them all to have a chance of extending their year.
Melbourne Stars
This season has been such a disappointment for the Melbourne Stars and even when they play well and do everything needed to win they find a way to lose. That is what happened in the Melbourne derby last time out. They had restricted the Renegades to a more than manageable total and were well in front for probably 18 overs of the run chase but then when it came to finishing the job off they came up short and now know they’ll be watching on when the finals come around.
The worst thing for the Stars was the opposing captain and the microphone on and he almost predicted the choke before it happened so they are getting something of a reputation now. It might be that now they can’t qualify for the latter stages of the competition they free up and play with some freedom and don’t worry about the consequences of winning and losing. That might make them more dangerous if they do.
Brisbane Heat
The Brisbane Heat kept their season alive with a win in Adelaide last time out and they need to build on that because they have no choice but to win their final four matches if they want to be around for another postseason run. Four wins don’t guarantee an extension to their season but anything less than that will certainly end the competitiveness of their campaign. They handled the pressure well in Adelaide and will be looking to replicate that here.
I still don’t think they are getting what they are paying for from their batting unit. Admittedly the big money overseas players have left for other leagues now but they need their Test stars to stand up in their absence. There were signs of Marnus Labuschagne finding form in Adelaide and he’ll look to kick on from there. The big positive from the win in Adelaide was how they restricted a daunting batting unit to just 137/9.
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Key Players
The Melbourne Stars needed someone to take responsibility and win the game against the Renegades last time out. Beau Webster looked like he was taking them to victory and then inexplicably got out. He needs to go big and ensure he gets the job done.
Spinners can go well at the MCG with the huge outfield and so Mitch Swepson has a chance to remind everyone why he is going on the tour to India next month and maybe even push his way into contention to start the Test series out there.
Betting
I’m not really in a rush to bet on the match result here. These are two inconsistent sides who have a bit of an all or nothing look to them. Melbourne Stars certainly looked like they had forgotten how to win in the last match but they are playing with freedom now and we don’t truly know how that is going to impact them. For what they are the Brisbane Heat feel a little short to me so I’ll leave the match betting alone and head to the player markets.
The market I like is the performance of Joe Clarke. He played twice against the Heat last season and he scored 85 off 44 in the first game and 62 from 36 in the second game. Mujeeb played for the Heat then and he isn’t around now so Clarke knows he can wallop this attack everywhere. He had a bit of a poor start to 2023 but there have been signs he has found his form again in the last two matches. He has a performance line of 32.5 which obviously he covered with the bat in both games last term. He has been snaffling catches throughout the competition though and any of those will only help the situation so I like the over on his performance.
Tips
Back J.Clarke’s Performance – Over 32.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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