At the time of writing, we are 1-1 in our BBL07 Round 6 betting tips. With the Heat and Hurricanes still to face off on Wednesday night, we are hoping to make it a winning week, however, we’ll put that aside for now and focus on the upcoming Round 7, kicking off Thursday night with the Sydney Thunder taking on the Perth Scorchers.
BBL07 Round 7 Betting Tips
Sydney Thunder vs Perth Scorchers (Thursday 7.40pm AEDT)
The Sydney Thunder currently sit sixth on the BBL07 table with two wins from their six games. They can put some real pressure on the top four with a win on Thursday night, but they’ll have to beat one of the in form teams in the competiion, the Perth Scorchers to do so. The Thunder rely heavily on their two top flight batsmen in Jos Butler and Shane Watson, who both sit inside the top five runscorers for BBL07 so far. Butler will be out of the side as he lines up for England in the ODI on Sunday, they will however, get Usman Khawaja back for this game after missing their best batsman for the Test series and also add English Test batsmen James Vince in the absence of Butler.
While the Scorchers batting line-up is top class, it’s their bowling attack that has been the main barometer for their success so far this season. The Scrochers have kept their opponents under 145 on three out of six occasions so far, and opening bowler Andrew Tye leads the league in wickets with 16 through six games. Mitch Johnson seems to always get a wicket in the early power-play and the backing work of Ashton Agar, David Willey and Jhye Richardson combine to give the Scorchers arguably the best attack in the league. However, with the first ODI on Sunday against England, the Scorchers will be mightily depleted in this match because of internatioanal duty. David Willey will miss to play for England while Jhye Richardson and Andrew Tye will suit up for the Aussies.
The Scorchers have some handy replacements for those players though, with Test opener Cameron Bancroft coming into the side along with a replacement overseas player in Tim Bresnan for David Willey. Due to the having so many out, they probably aren’t as short as they would be otherwise, which is fine with us. The Thunder’s batting is a real concern, scoring over 166 just once so far this season. Usman and Vince come into the team with zero T20 form so we'll stick with the Scorchers here.
TIP: Perth to win - $1.70 at Sportsbet
Melbourne Renedages vs Melbourne Stars (Friday 7.40pm AEDT)
The Stars and Renegades will do battle in the 2nd and final Melbourne Derby of the season, with their now being no chance that the two teams will meet in the finals due to the Stars 0-5 record. While they’ve been competitive in a couple of games, things just haven’t gone the Stars way this year, with marquee players failing regularly and the bowling attack in particular looking really shakey. No Stars player has taken more than five wickets through their opening five games, with all-rounder leading the wicket-takers. It marks a big problem for Melbourne, with Michael Beer, John Hastings, James Faulkner and Adam Zampa all struggling for form.
Although they went down in a thrilling match in Perth last week, the Renegades still look like one of the better teams in the league and are odds on to make the finals. Cam White has been exceptional for the Gades, smashing 285 runs at an average of 142.5 to lead all BBL07 run scorers. White has only been dimsmissed twice in his six innings, and is going at a strike rate of 115.85, and has been showing his ability to be a consistent player through the middle overs of innings, not just a hard hitter. The fact that the Renegades are 4-2 and skipper Aaron Finch is yet to really fire with the bat is daunting for any opposition.
Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa are all in the Australian ODI squad with the first match set to be played on Sunday, however, with it being in Melbourne anyway, we think there’s a strong chance that all three suit up for this clash. We think regardless of whether they play or not, the Renegades bowling attack is just too good for a struggling Stars batting line-up at the moment.
TIP: Melbourne Renegades to win - $1.67 at Ladbrokes
Adelaide Strikers vs Perth Scorchers (Saturday 4.10pm AEDT)
The Scorchers will suit up for their second match of Round 7 on Saturday as they travel to Adelaide to take on the Strikers. After a great win over the Stars on Tuesday night, the Strikers now sit atop the BBL07 table with 5 wins from 6 games and a great net run rate of +1.207. Alex Carey, Colin Ingram and Travis Head have all been great with the bat for the Strikers, but it’s their bowling attack that has got the job done for them so far this season. Only once this season has a team managed to score more than 161 against the Strikers, and they have held their oppoenents to under 133 or less on three separate occasions.
Rashid Khan, Ben Laughlin, Billy Stanlake and Micahel Neser are all in the top ten bowlers in the league for wickets taken, while Peter Siddle has one of the best economy rates in the game. Depending on selection for the first ODI in Melbourne, the Strikers will most likely be without skipper and star batsman Travis Head here, but if the Strikers are to win, it will be thanks to their bowling anyway.
Depending on whether he is released from Cricket Australia in time, Shaun Marsh could be back for the Scorchers here but they will be without a host of other players who have been selected in the ODI squad. Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, David Willey and Mitch Marsh will all miss the game, which we think gives the Strikers a massive chance at home. Back them to win here against a depleted Scorchers bowling unit.
TIP: Adelaide to win - $1.70 at Sportsbet
Sydney Sixers vs Syndey Thunder (Saturday 7.25pm AEDT)
Second derby in two days here as the Sixers host the Thunder in the late game of the Saturday night double header. The Sixers have struggled mightily throughout the BBL07 season so far and currently sit second to last on the table with an 0-6 record. With absolutely no chance of playing finals, pride is all that’s left for the Sixers here as they attempt to win their first game of the season.
The Sixers will be buoyed by the likely return of skipper Moises Henriques, who took personal leave from the BBL after just two games. Henriques will slot into a batting line-up that, on paper, looks like one of the best in the league, but has really failed to fire at all this season. Jordan Silk and Sam Billings lead the Sixers run scorers with just 156 each through the first six games, however, some stability from Henriques here should make them a much better unit.
Without seeing how the Thunder and particularly Usman Khawaja go in their first Round 7 matchup against the Scorchers, it’s hard to get a gauage on this match. However, we just think the Sixers batting line-up on paper is just too talented to stay down for long, and we have to take at least one underdog for the round, it is the BBL after all.
TIP: Sydney Sixers to win - $2 at CrownBet
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