It’s a monster week of Big Bash League action coming up as we squeeze in some of the postponed games in a revised schedule. Monday night sees a big double header in BBL11, kicking off with the Hurricanes taking on the Thunder at the MCG from 2.10pm!
Check out our full preview and betting tips for the clash courtesy of Mr. Cricket and remember to head to our Cricket Tips page for regular updates throughout the BBL season as well as the Ashes.
BBL11 Hurricanes vs Thunder Betting Tips
MCG, Monday 10th January, 2.10pm (AEDT)
Hobart Hurricanes
Predicted XI: Ben McDermott, Caleb Jewell, Peter Handscomb, D’Arcy Short, Harry Brook, Tim David, Mitch Owen, Jordan Thompson, Tom Rogers, Riley Meredith, Sandeep Lamichhane
The Hurricanes were one of the luckier teams in the league earlier in the season in terms of COVID and injury absences, but they have been hit in the last few weeks. Matthew Wade remains on the sidelines as do bowlers Joel Paris, Natan Ellis and Josh Kann. Luckily, Harry Brook and Jordan Thompson are back in the squad for Monday night, so some much needed depth with both bat and bowl is injected for the big clash against the Thunder.
The Hurricanes bounced back from a two game losing streak with a win over the Brisbane Heat on Saturday. Ben McDermott was once again the catalyst, falling just seven runs short of what would have been an astonishing third hundred this season.
Sydney Thunder
Predicted XI: Matthew Gilkes, Ben Cutting, Jason Sangha, Daniel Sams, Oliver Davies, Alex Ross, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Gurinder Sandhu, Tanveer Sangha, Muhammad Hasnain
The Thunder will play their second game without Sam Billings and this season after he departed for international duty. Luckily for them, the timing of their departure paired with the return of a bunch of players from the COVID inactive list, so they are still looking like a very ominous squad.
Baxter Holt looks to be the new keeper in Billings absence, the Thunder also threw Daniel Sams up to four in their last game with the allrounder blasting an unbeaten 98 off just 44 balls. The ability of Cutting and Sams to bat up the order gives the Thunder incredible flexibility which is so important in T20 cricket.
Match Prediction
The Thunder start as slight favourites here and I’m siding with them. Sure they lose Billings and Hales for this clash but hasn’t really been those international stars that have been the difference for them this season. Instead it’s been the Thunder homegrown players in the likes of Sams, Sangha, Gilkes and Davies that have been the catalysts.
They have plenty of depth in both their bowling and batting stocks while the Hurricanes have relied so heavily on just one player this season in Ben McDermott. The opening batsman can win any game off his own bat, but I just don’t think it’s a great betting strategy to keep backing him to perform, especially with his opening partner Matthew Wade out of the line-up.
Same Game Multi
Pairing Ben McDermott ad Jason Sangha to both score at least 10 runs to start with. The two have been their respective teams most consistent batsmen so far this season and I like them in this market because they don’t take a lot of early risks, instead, they work their way into an innings.
As always, the third leg of the multi will be the 1st wicket of the game to be caught. This has saluted in almost 90% of games this season and is still paying a healthy $1.40 as a same game multi leg, absolutely ridiculous value.
HUR vs THU Same Game Multi
$2.62
