The BBL heads to Melbourne for the first time this season as the Stars host the Strikers at the MCG. The match is a must win for the Stars after losing to the Strikers in Adelaide on Monday night. The Stars sit seventh on the BBL table after losing four of their last five games. There will be plenty of question marks around the Strikers with Rashid Khan leaving for international duties. Can the Stars get back into the finals mix? Or will the Strikers move up into third place? See our full preview and betting tips for Friday night’s clash below.
Big Bash League (BBL10): Stars vs Strikers Betting Tips
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Friday January 15, 7:15pm
Melbourne Stars Squad: Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Sam Elliott, Andre Fletcher, Seb Gotch, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Nick Larkin, Lance Morris, Tom O’Connell, Sam Rainbird, Haris Rauf, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
Adelaide Strikers Squad: Alex Carey, Wes Agar, Danny Briggs, Harry Conway, Ryan Gibson, Harry Nielsen, Liam O’Connor, Spencer Johnson, Matt Renshaw, Phil Salt, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall
Match Prediction
The Stars are back on home turf after a challenging stretch that has seen them fall to seventh on the table after starting 2-0. The Stars lost to the Strikers by five wickets on Monday as the Stars batting unit once again underperformed on a good batting surface in Adelaide. The Spin combination of Zampa (2/20) and Maxwell (1/19) were once again excellent against a Strikers side that has struggled against spin. If Haris Rauf can find the form he had in BBL09, the Stars are going to be tough to beat.
Glenn Maxwell has struggled in his last three innings, if Maxwell can get back to his best it’ll have a massive influence on the outcome. With Marcus Stoinis in red hot form, he just needs some support to see the Stars put up a big score. The MCG has been a fortress for the Stars across the history of the Big Bash. Last season the Stars won five of the seven games they played at the MCG last season, and after a long time on the road they’ll be ready to put in a big showing at home. The Strikers have never won at the MCG.
The two sides have shaped up similarly this season, a star batsman carrying the batting lineup (Carey, Stoinis) with a quality bowling attack keeping them in games. This game will come down to the ‘supporting acts’ and with the power of Maxwell, Cartwright and Fletcher the Stars will be well equipped. The home ground advantage is a big factor in this clash, the Stars were poor on Monday and managed to keep it close against the Strikers. If the Stars can get some consistent performances across the board, they will end this bad run of form.
Stars Prop Bet
Marcus Stoinis has continued on from his record breaking BBL09 campaign, scoring 227 runs at an average of 39.57 to be the fifth highest run scorer in the comp. Whilst most of his teammates have struggled recently, Stoinis has done his part to try and carry the Stars with scores of 97, 34 and 47 in his last three innings.
Stoinis 228 runs are the most of any player in Stars vs Strikers matches across the history of the Big Bash. Stoinis has scores of 33, 53, 39, and 50 in his last six games against the Strikers. Back at the MCG where he dominated last season, against a side that he has had plenty of success against, Stoinis will be full of confidence and well set to continue his rich vein of form.
Stoinis Top STA Runscorer
$3.20
Strikers Prop Bet
After a slow start to the season, Jon Wells is starting to hit some form with scores of 66, 16 not out and 36 in his last four games. In BBL10, Wells has 204 runs at an average of 25.50. Wells has an excellent record against the Melbourne Stars, Wells 204 runs against the Stars are the most of any Stars player.
In his last seven matches against the Stars, Wells has scores of 36, 55 not out, 68 not out, 13, 32 not out, 22 and 68. Wells has started to find the form that resembled his breakout campaign from last season, with the inconsistency at the top of the order for the Strikers, there’s a decent chance Wells will have an early opportunity to make a big impact.
Wells Top STR Runscorer
$5.50
