The Big Bash League is back in action on Boxing Day with a double header which gets underway at the Sydney Cricket Ground where the Sydney Sixers put their unbeaten start on the line when they host the Melbourne Stars.
The Stars are yet to win a match having played three and lost them all and if they lose here then their campaign could already be over from a competitive viewpoint. A Sixers win will move them to the top of the table for a few hours.
Sydney Sixers
The Sydney Sixers have been one of the best franchises in the competition throughout the time it has been in operation. They aren’t always the flashiest team but they offer up little in the way of gifts to the opposition and they have a team who know their roles perfectly and play them how they want them to be played. This is very much a unit that is better for the sum of its parts rather than the individuals that are within it. That makes them tough to beat.
Sydney have needed their lower order to get them over the line in their two matches so far but even when things are looking bleak someone knows when to take risks and which ones to take to make them a tough side to beat. They also have a bowling unit which operates very well, especially here at the Sydney Cricket Ground, so it isn’t a surprise that the Sixers have started the season well and they will be confident of opening up with a third straight win.
Melbourne Stars
We have been here before with the Melbourne Stars. It seems that whoever is in their side, whichever order they are utilised in and who is leading it they just can’t play decent T20 cricket. They are the very opposite of the Sydney Sixers. They are individuals who if a couple come off in the same match would give them a chance of winning matches but when they don’t they are pretty tamely beaten. The Stars have played three and lost three and one more defeat might be fatal, certainly if it comes this early in the season.
The big problem for the Stars this season has been their bowling. They have conceded over 160 in two of their three matches and that would have been all three had Perth not reached their target in the first game. If they are going to get back into the competition then they are going to need to bowl better than they have been, especially in the second half of the innings where they have really gone around the park. If they can do that then their batters might have more chance of getting the elusive win.
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Key Players
Ben Dwarshius has been very good for the Sydney Sixers so far in this competition. He has picked up four wickets in the two matches and it was his pyrotechnics with the bat in the last game which got the Sixers over the line from an unlikely position.
Ben Duckett has arrived as the overseas opener for the Melbourne Stars and you sense if they are going to put up big totals then he needs to get them off to the sort of start he was giving the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred earlier in the year.
Betting
I can’t be having the Melbourne Stars right now. I’ve rarely ever been able them in this competition in truth but I’ve seen nothing to suggest that they can go to the fortress Sydney Cricket Ground and come away with a win against a side who just know how to win. The exact opposite can be said of the Stars. Rather than be a side who know how to win they are a team who know how to lose and that is never a good position to be in.
The Sydney Sixers are probably going to build into the season with overseas players having been late to arrive so the fact that they have won both of their matches so far speaks volumes of their class. There is so much more to come from the Sixers which might not even be needed here but if it is then it is good to know they have it in their locker. I can’t ignore the 4/5 on the Sixers in this one. I have them a great deal shorter than that. I’ll play the home side here.
Tips
Back Sydney Sixers to beat Melbourne Stars for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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