The BBL11 season continues on Sunday night as the two top teams in the competition square off in the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers from Coffs Harbour. Check out our full preview and betting tips courtesy of Mr. Cricket below.
BBL11 Sixers vs Scorchers Betting Tips
C.ex Coffs International Stadium, Sunday 9th January, 7.15pm (AEDT)
Sydney Sixers
Predicted XI: Daniel Hughes, Josh Philippe, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Dan Christian, Sean Abbott, Hayden Kerr, Ben Dwarshuis, Shadab Khan, Jackson Bird
The Sixers have been fairly settled as a unit for the better part of a month but there will likely be some changes ahead of their Sunday night clash against the Scorchers. James Vince will come out of the side as he leaves for English international duty while Pakistani leg-spinner Shadab Khan should be available after clearing his quarantine period.
The predicted XI we have listed above is their best case, but throughout the week the Sixers have confirmed that four players in their squad have tested positive for COVID. Those players aren’t known yet, so we very well see some further changes to the team listed above. Luckily, the Sixers have one of the deepest rosters in the league, with the likes of Jackson Bird, Lloyd Pope, Mickey Edwards and Todd Murphy all viable options as replacements.
Perth Scorchers
Predicted XI: Kurtis Patterson, Cameron Bancroft, Colin Munro, Laurie Evans, Ashton Turner, Aaron Hardie, Andrew Tye, Matthew Kelly, Peter Hatzoglou
The Scorchers will also be without their own English international as fast bowler Tymal Mills departs. They went without Peter Hatzoglou in favour of Matt Kelly in their last clash, so I think they probably just bring the spinner back into the side for Mills here. So far this season, they have looked their best with Hatzolglou bowling in the middle overs.
They don’t seem to be affected by COVID at the moment, but they are still without Mitch Marsh and Jos Inglis due to international duty. They should come back into the side at the conclusion of the Sydney Test, giving the Scorchers an embarrassment of riches at the selection table.
Match Prediction
I think the Scorchers will be too strong here. The Sixers batting line-up has looked really frail over their last couple of games, relying on the likes of Dan Christian and Sean Abbott to dig them out of early holes. They were 8/47 in their narrow win over the Heat before falling to 6/67 in their last clash, a loss to the Scorchers.
Perth have been the team to beat in the BBL this season and I think they are better equipped to deal with the loss of their English import. There’s also the fact that four players for the Sixers will be out for this clash. We don’t know exactly who those players are, but you would have to think even best case scenario they will be without at least one key player.
