The Saturday afternoon game sees the Melbourne Stars host the Perth Scorchers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which sees the teams face up for the second time this week. Both teams faced each other in their most recent outing in a game where the Stars dismantled the Scorchers on route to victory off just 12 overs.
The Scorchers had won three on the bounce before falling to the league leaders, the Stars, in a fixture where everything went wrong both before and during the game. The Scorchers have been victims of terrible scheduling lately and on top of that had a flight cancellation ahead of the Stars game that saw them endure a 13-hour trip back to Perth which resulted in them arriving back in Perth less than 24 hours before their match against the Stars.
The top of the table Stars (9-1) look like the team to beat in this seasons BBL with their only loss being a 5 run defeat to the Adelaide Strikers. With four games remaining they will be eager to continue their strong form into the finals.
The Scorchers sit precariously close to falling out a finals position as they are only one point clear of 6th and they will be desperate to make amends for their abysmal display at home last match.
Melbourne Stars Squad (13): Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Jonathan Merlo, Lance Morris, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall
Perth Scorchers Squad: (13): Mitch Marsh (c), Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Tim David, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Chris Jordan, Matt Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Jaron Morgan, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson
BBL09 Stars vs Scorchers Betting Tips
Melbourne Stars
The Stars have been dealt a major blow for this match and beyond with fast bowler Haris Rauf being selected in Pakistan’s T20 squad to face Bangladesh. This is a huge hit to the Stars bowling attack as Rauf has amassed 16 wickets in just the 7 games this season. Jonathan Merlo and Nic Maddinson come into the Stars 13-man squad but neither are direct replacements for Rauf who has been in top form.
As a result of Rauf’s exclusion more overs are there for the taking and I believe Maxwell is a chance of picking up at least one more than usual. Maxwell has currently bowled only 11 overs in this year’s Big Bash and has taken five wickets. Although Maxwell is predominately there for his batting it is not rare that he chips in with a wicket or two especially now they are one bowler short.
Maxwell batting has seen him regain his past form posting 316 runs in just nine innings. Maxwell has averaged 79 this year and has been showing poise that was never seen from him in previous years. Add to the mix that he fields in key catching positions, potential wickets and big scores and the 37.5 looks a line that he can clear in various ways.
Maxwell OVER 37.5 Points
$1.88
Perth Scorchers
Josh Inglis has flown a little under the radar this season as the attention has largely been on Mitch Marsh and Cam Bancroft. Inglis has made 312 runs in his 10 innings this season which makes him the Scorchers second top run scorer behind Mitch Marsh by only 42 runs. In their last match against the Melbourne Stars, Inglis was the only player to make more than 10 runs, posting 37 runs off just 19 balls which consisted of four 4s and two 6s.
The over 20.5 runs looks a nice play for a player who has cleared that total in their last four games and has made over 20 runs in seven of their ten matches this season. The only time Inglis has failed to make more than 20 in his last six games was against the Hurricanes where he was run out by 3 in what was a terrible miscommunication with his fellow opener.
Josh Inglis will also know that he will need to get the Scorchers off to a strong start against the Stars and I back him to be able to do just that.
Inglis OVER 20.5 Runs
$1.88
Prediction
This is a tough game to call despite what was an utterly convincing victory last time for the Stars. The Scorchers currently hold an eight to seven lead in the head to head of these teams and I believe they can get the win against the competition leaders here.
Rauf is a huge loss for the Stars and without their strike bowler and against a Scorchers team eager to make amends for their humiliating loss I’m tipping they can cause the upset here. Scorchers know that they will likely need to win at least two of their last four and with outings against the Strikers and two against the Thunder to go a result here against the Stars would go a long way to securing a finals position.
Perth Scorchers H2H
$2.46
