The second part of the double header in the Big Bash League on Saturday sees the tournament hit Blundstone Arena for the first time this season as the Hobart Hurricanes round off the pre-Christmas action when they host the Melbourne Renegades.
These two sides have played five matches between them so far this season and are still waiting for their first win and you would think if that doesn’t come in this one then their hopes of winning the title will already be hanging by a thread.
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes have played twice in this tournament and have lost on both occasions. They will be quick to point out that they have lost to the two best teams in the competition historically but they will need to pick up a bit in terms of their performances. One issue they are having is that they are already suffering injuries and you tend to find in this competition that when they come along early it is hard for a team to get up to full speed.
The big issue with the Hurricanes is that they just look a batter light. That didn’t stop them from putting up a decent score in Perth last time out but they needed some late order hitting to get them up to a total which was made to look inadequate very quickly anyway. You get the impression that if the Hurricanes are going to push on and make the top four this season their bowling is going to need to very strong throughout the remainder of the campaign.
Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades have had an extra match on their slate but one of them was cancelled after six overs when the wicket in Geelong started playing up. In the other two matches they have been beaten by the Sydney Sixers and the Brisbane Heat, which aren’t bad results given the strength of those two sides but it did mean that they passed up the chance to show that they can be one of the better teams in the tournament.
I still think the Renegades can be that but they have a history of playing really well and finding ways to lose matches to coming up short when the finish line is in sight. If they can start winning a couple of tight games and building up a head of steam and consistency then they can definitely win this competition. They probably have one or two bowlers who go round the park a little too often but man for man they can match anyone with the bat.
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Key Players
Chris Jordan has hit the ground running for the Hobart Hurricanes this season. He smashed a half century in no time at all in Perth and took the only wicket to fall and you sense he’ll only gain in influence the more matches he plays.
Quinton de Kock hasn’t really got going for the Melbourne Renegades but they will hope that the South African can deliver the goods here because if they can force the Hurricanes light batting order to take risks chasing a big score it is probably the best round to success.
Betting
I think we are in for a match where the boundaries could be peppered here. Hobart Hurricanes are a batter light but there isn’t a huge amount in the new ball attack of the Melbourne Renegades so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the home side get off to a bit of a flyer here. The Renegades batters can bat with freedom because they have so much batting depth so I think that brings itself to a higher scoring match, not least because this isn’t an overly big ground.
The boundary line for this match is 36.5 and when you consider some of the power batters we have going for us here such as Caleb Jewell, Matthew Wade, Ben McDermott, Tim David, Quinton de Kock, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Finch, Nic Maddinson and Joe Clarke then you have to think the bat is going to have the better of the ball in this one. These aren’t huge boundaries either so I don’t think this line is high enough. I’ll take the over.
Tips
Back Over 36.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
