The Big Bash League continues on Thursday when the Hobart Hurricanes are back in action when they host a Melbourne Stars side who will be looking for back-to-back successes having got off the mark earlier in the week.
These two sides only have one win each for their season but the winner here will move into the top four so that is certainly an incentive to perform. It probably looks a bigger match for the Stars as they have played an extra game.
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes have only played three matches this season and they got off the mark for their campaign last time out when they cruised past the Melbourne Renegades. The Renegades are bottom of the table so they will probably need to show something against another side before we know they are truly up and running for the season, but to be fair their schedule has got easier with them having faced Perth and Sydney Sixers in their opening two games.
The Hurricanes were at least emphatic winners of the match against the Renegades. They got off to a flying start with the bat and Matthew Wade kept on delivering the goods. They might be slightly concerned about how they allowed the Renegades to score as many as they did, although to be fair there was a short boundary and the pitch looked like it came onto the bat lovely. Hobart need to maximise home advantage with the travelling they have to do.
Melbourne Stars
Just at the point that this looked like being another season to forget for the Melbourne Stars, they perked their fans up with a really good win over the Sydney Sixers. The Sixers were below par in the match it has to be said but that wasn’t the Stars’ problem. They still had to be beaten and that is exactly what they did. I think they’ll need to keep showing improvement but the confidence winning a game can bring should ensure that happens naturally.
The big thing for the Stars in that match is that they turned up with the ball. They had the Sixers 45-4 in the ninth over and you shouldn’t be losing matches from there. If they can pick up some powerplay wickets in this one then it would certainly help them. Their batting is slowly coming together but I still think there is improvement in them. We’ve only seen the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis delivering their best in patches so there is more to come.
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Key Players
Matthew Wade plays a completely different role for the Hobart Hurricanes to the one which he plays around the world and as an opening batter the onus is on him to score big. He did that last time out and needs to do that again.
Usama Mir was absolutely superb for the Melbourne Stars in the win over the Sydney Sixers and with Australians generally not great players of leg spin you would imagine the Pakistan international will be a key player once again.
Betting
I’m expecting another high scoring match here. We saw a high scoring game when the Renegades visited this ground and I think the other Melbourne side can deliver another one here. Whether that comes in the form of runs or sixes and boundaries I’m less sure but having had a look at the lines and things I think the best bet is the sixes where the line is quite low looking at 11.5, particularly when you consider the hitters that are on show.
There is a case to be made that if the Stars bat second and deliver one of their weaker batting performances that they can still get a few sixes away on a ground where there is usually a short boundary. We can be pretty confident that the Hurricanes will be aggressive with the bat as that tends to be their modus operandi and with the exception of Usama Mir there isn’t really much mystery in the bowling attacks but both side bat deep with a lot of power. I expect over 11.5 sixes in this one.
Tips
Back Over 11.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
