The first Melbourne derby of the Big Bash League season forms the action in the competition on Tuesday when the two rivals meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in what could be a big game for both sides.
It is anyway whenever these two meet with bragging rights on the line but neither team are really in the position that they would want to be in so this should be a keenly fought derby where the points mean so much.
Melbourne Stars
The Melbourne Stars have started this season slowly. This is a franchise who are in danger of flattering to deceive once again and you just wonder how long this can go on for. They do however come in here off the back of a fine win over the Adelaide Strikers last time out, although the Strikers didn’t exactly frank that form on Monday. Nevertheless, this is a table which is condensed and successive wins can bump a team a few places up it.
The good thing for the Stars during that win over the Strikers was that a number of their key players came to the party, not least Marcus Stoinis who hadn’t really impacted the tournament up until that point. If he can maintain his form and others can come to the party then the Stars could launch a run of form which pushes them into the top five. They need to tighten up with the ball but that comes with confidence of winning.
Melbourne Renegades
This looked like it might be a much better season for the Melbourne Renegades when they started it with three wins in succession but unfortunately for them they have reverted to type and lost their last four matches so they begin the second half of their campaign with a 3-4 record on their ledger. You would imagine eight wins will be needed unless you have an excellent run rate in order to make the finals so the Renegades need to win five of their last seven matches.
The problem the Renegades are now having is that injuries are beginning to hit them and hit them hard. They missed Shaun Marsh in a recent match because of a niggle and in the last game their captain Nic Maddinson ruptured his ACL putting him out for the season. That means Aaron Finch will lead the Renegades for the remainder of the campaign but that previous match was just two days ago so they won’t have had long to regroup under a new leader and go again.
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Key Players
Marcus Stoinis showed against the Adelaide Strikers that he has the power to take the game away from an opponent in the blink of an eye. He tore into Peter Siddle and Henry Thornton and basically won the game for his team. Throw in his bowling resources and he’s a huge man for the Stars in this game.
Aaron Finch was the leading scorer in the competition for the Melbourne Renegades and now he will take on the captaincy once again so he is a huge player for the visitors in this game. They will need all of his runs and more.
Betting
I’m not a massive fan of the Melbourne Stars but I think it is hard to go against them here. The Melbourne Renegades have lost their last four matches and now they have lost their captain who was batting pretty well in the main. Martin Guptill has barely scored a run since arriving and there is a bit of a strain on the squad with injuries beginning to take their toll. Had they had a few days between the Maddinson injury and this game they might have been easier to rely on but that hasn’t been the case.
The Stars aren’t anything special but they have just won their previous match and they have got some big players in excellent form all of a sudden so they look in better order here. Add in that they are the home side and even at 5/6 I think they are worth a bet here. If Marcus Stoinis goes off then the Stars would have a great chance but the likes of Joe Clarke, Hilton Cartwright, Beau Webster and Adam Zampa can all win matches on their own so I like the Stars here.
Tips
Back Melbourne Stars to beat Melbourne Renegades for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
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