The first game of Monday’s BBL double-header starts at the SCG with the Sydney Sixers looking for a bounce-back performance against the red-hot Melbourne Stars. Sydney’s weather will be an issue again as rain is predicted during game-time so the coin toss will be very important. Both sides do enjoy batting second so that could be a good strategy when placing a bet on this match. As usual, we have a full betting preview for the game below.
Sydney Sixers Squad (13): Justin Avendano, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran, Ben Dwarshuis, Mickey Edwards, Moises Henriques ©, Dan Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Steve O'Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, James Vince (9)
Melbourne Stars Squad (13): Glenn Maxwell ©, Hilton Cartwright, Jackson Coleman, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Jonathan Merlo, Lance Morris, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall
Sixers vs Stars Betting Tips
Sydney Sixers
Starting with the Sixers, they haven’t played a full game since they were crushed by the Stars at the MCG. Their clash with the Hurricanes at this venue ended in a no-result and they played in a rain-shortened match against the Thunder on Saturday night. So it’s hard to get a read on their form. It obviously hasn’t helped their batting lineup after they’ve lost plenty of wickets in their last few powerplays. So it doesn’t bode well for a matchup against the Stars unless Philippe and Hughes can stabilise the innings early on. Their middle order has a lot of experience with Henriques, Vince and Silk. But they do lack a big hitter unless Avendano gets pushed up the order. Their bowling lineup is strong on paper with the Nathan “the Goat” Lyon and Steve O’Keefe back in the starting 11. So they should take confidence after the Stars batting struggled at the MCG against the Scorchers on Saturday.
Most of the Sixers batting lineup struggled on a very tough pitch at the Sydney Showground and that includes Henriques. He copped a pretty much unplayable ball on Saturday but we’ll be looking for the skipper to stand up in this one. In the Sixers comfortable loss against the Stars last week, he did look good with 41 off 25 and also managed to score 41 in his last innings at this venue. So if the Sixers do lose early wickets again, look for Henriques to play the anchor role in the middle overs to get him over 20.5 runs.
Henriques OVER 20.5 Runs
$1.88
Melbourne Stars
The Stars are absolutely cruising at the moment with 10 wins and just 1 loss in BBL09. So they’re afforded the luxury of mixing with their batting lineup and giving the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile plenty of rest for the finals. It’s rare to see Stoinis fail with the bat at the moment and that was the case at the MCG on Saturday as he fell for 6 off 7. Considering his 147 not out against the Sixers recently, the big Stoin should be back to his very best. Hilton Cartwright is also enjoying his time atop the order with half-centuries in 2 of his last 3 outings. Maxwell is batting around number 5 at the moment so they’re looking to get batting time into the likes of Maddinson, Larkin and Gotch before the finals. Without Coulter-Nile and Rauf, Coleman should come into the starting 11 for a pace-bowling option. After they took 5 wickets with spin against the Scorchers, they could employ more of the same on a generally spin-friendly pitch at the SCG.
All the focus is on Marcus Stoinis and that’s rightly so after his 147 not out against the Sixers last Sunday. However, Hilton Cartwright has been a perfect partner alongside him and that should continue on Monday. He top-scored and carried his bat on a tricky deck at the MCG against the Scorchers on Saturday with 58 off 56. In his last 4 innings, he’s totalled 171 runs and has beaten this 17.5 runs total in all 4 innings.
Cartwright OVER 17.5 Runs
$1.90
Prediction
It’s incredibly difficult to back against the in-form Melbourne Stars at the moment. They smashed the Sixers at the MCG last Sunday and with Maxwell / Stoinis not in India, it’s really helped the Stars title hopes. They do lack wicket-takers without Coulter-Nile / Rauf but Maxwell is a very smart captain that can find creative ways of taking 10 wickets. It’s especially difficult for the Sixers after they’ve played in back to back rain effected games and that’s tough to build any winning momentum.
Melbourne Stars H2H
$1.65
