The penultimate match in the Big Bash League before Christmas sees two sides who were well beaten in their opening games going into battle as the Hobart Hurricanes play the Brisbane Heat in what could be an early battle for the wooden spoon.
Hobart were wiped out by the Sydney Sixers in their first match of the tournament. Brad Haddin gave their bowlers a good going over and then their batsmen just never showed up and were spun out by Nathan Lyon so an all-round improvement is needed.
It remains to be seen whether the Canes make any changes to their side from the first game. Overreactions this early in the tournament can be counterproductive but their performance was that bad that it would be no surprise were some tweaks to be made.
Brisbane Heat looked good at the halfway stage of their match against the Melbourne Renegades having posted a daunting looking total but they just offered nothing with the ball and in the end were soundly beaten. That lack of danger with the ball is a real problem for them going forward in this tournament.
The Heat had the services of Joe Burns in their first match but he isn’t around for this one as he’s away with Australia preparing for the Boxing Day Test. Alex Doolan comes into the squad to replace him. Chris Lynn will need to manage his bowlers really well if the Heat are to sneak a win here.
Matches between these two in the last two seasons have been very high scoring. The last four first innings totals have been 209, 209, 208 and 180 and two of those totals were chased down.
Bellerive Oval isn’t the easiest ground to defend and neither of these bowling attacks give me the impression you would want to put faith in them defending any total. With that in mind I’ll leave the match alone and head to the side markets for betting opportunities.
As you would expect with high scoring matches the boundary and sixes count when these two meet are often high. In boundaries the last four totals have cumulated in 52, 47, 53 and 46 while the sixes have made up 17, 11, 17 and 12 so everything suggests were on for a high scoring game here.
The choice to make is between the boundaries and the sixes and with the Heat without Joe Burns and Hobart maybe being slightly more cautious after their shambles with the bat the other day I’ll take the boundaries instead of the sixes as there is plenty more potential in that line.
Another bet I like comes in the form of Hobart’s opening batsman Ben Dunk and his runs line. You can get his runs at 18.5 with Betway and that looks low to me as Dunk has jumped all over this Heat attack in recent times.
His last four scores against the Heat read 67, 87, 67 and 2 so there is something about this lot that brings the best out of him. Coupled with that Dunk finished the one day competition with three half centuries and he’s been in blinding form in the First-class Sheffield Shield tournament too so everything suggests he should go well here.
With the Heat attack capable of being grossly exposed I think it is worth a small bet on Dunk to be the man of the match along with a proper bet on him going past 18 with the bat in his hand.
Back Over 36.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back B.Dunk Over 18.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
Back B.Dunk Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betway
