The BBL12 season continues with the Hobart Hurricanes and the Melbourne Renegades clashing in a Christmas Eve special. Thankfully for the kiddies, this 3:30pm contest should be well and truly wrapped up in time for the big guy to deliver some presents by morning.
The Hurricanes will be keen to square the ledger on their season while the Renegades are surprisingly undefeated so far in BBL12.
Check out our preview and BBL betting tips below for the Hurricanes vs Renegades!
BBL12 Hurricanes vs Renegades Preview & Betting Tips
Blundstone Arena, Saturday, December 24th 3:30pm AEDT
Hobart Hurricanes
Predicted XI: D'Arcy Short, Ben McDermott, Matthew Wade, Shadab Khan, Tim David, Asif Ali, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Ellis, Patrick Dooley, Riley Meredith, Wil Parker
The Hurricanes have been both naughty and nice so far in BBL12 with a 1-2 record to show for their efforts, and they will have to wait and see whether they have been good enough to receive any Christmas presents here.
Their opening effort against the Stars was pretty flat but they backed up with a solid showing against a talented Perth Scorchers team in Launceston.
However they would be disappointed with their 6-run loss to the Sixers on Thursday night. Once again their opening bowlers leaked massive runs. Faf Du Plessis collared them for Perth and then Josh Philippe and Kurtis Patterson made a mockery of a difficult SCG pitch for the Sixers. Joel Paris bowled just one over while Nathan Ellis has been largely ineffective so far this season. They desperately need to plug the leaks with the ball.
A change has to be made and perhaps they’ll look to add to their spin bowling stocks with Wil Parker after the sensational returns from new Hobart cult hero, Paddy Dooley.
With arms and legs flailing in all directions, “The Windmill” has taken 7 wickets so far in BBL12 and pulled the Canes back into the contest with his mystery spinners.
Interestingly, D’Arcy Short remains unused as a bowling option. Perhaps there’s an injury there as it doesn’t make much sense to not give him a trundle.
It largely reduces the appeal of Short in the team entirely as his batting is so flat at the moment. The problem is that the Canes are opening with two out-of-form batsmen, while two of the best T20 cricketers in the country sit on the pine with Matthew Wade at 3 and Tim David at 5. It’s no surprise that their only win of the season came when both of those came in early and had time at the wicket. Caleb Jewell has to be considered to replace Short if he’s not bowling.
Asif Ali showed his worth with a blistering 41 from just 13 balls to show how dangerous he can be as a late-order hitter. The Canes really do have the best batting lineup in the league on paper, they just need to work out their best bowling lineup.
Melbourne Renegades
Predicted XI: Nic Maddinson, Sam Harper, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Finch, Jono Wells, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein, Will Sutherland, Jack Prestwidge, Tom Rogers, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Meanwhile the Renegades are enjoying a turn of fortunes from their previous BBL campaigns. They’ve already matched their total wins from last season, and we’re only three matches into BBL12!
Aaron Finch has certainly played a big role in those victories, hitting the winning runs in the last two matches, with his experience shining through. He’s not the free-flowing, hard-hitting Finch of old, but he’s the glue holding together their batting lineup.
Nic Maddinson has started the season well, while Andre Russell pulled the Gades out of the fire by launching the ball to all parts of Geelong with an impressive 57 from 42 balls against the Heat. This will be the last match for Dre Russ in red with Martin Guptill set to join the Gades after Christmas.
There are concerns though, with Sam Harper continually failing at the top of the order, while Jono Wells and Jake Fraser-McGurk are yet to get much going. Wells leaving a hat-trick ball that hit flush on off stump is indicative of where his form is at right now. The Gades don’t have a lot of depth in their squad to replace them.
Akeal Hosein has been a brilliant signing, with his bowling proving effective while his batting talents were on display last match with a fantastic cameo of 30 from just 19 balls. In combination with Mujeeb Ur Rahman, they have a quality spin combination, and the guile of Kane Richardson and Tom Rogers had provided a nice bowling attack to restrict the opposition. However Richardson has been left off the plane for this match, with the Renegades opting to rest their star quick. It's a massive hole to fill with all-rounder Jack Prestwidge coming into the squad.
Match Prediction
The Canes are back on Bellerive for the first time this season where they will be desperate to level the ledger for the season. They would be best-served by producing a road for a pitch to nullify the spin and off-pace bowling of the Renegades, while maximising their advantage with the bat. Kane Richardson is a massive out for the Gades. If the Canes can put up a big score, then I think the Gades are too reliant on too few to be able to match it.
Hurricanes to win
$1.73 (3 units)
Same Game Multi
Spin getting wickets has definitely been a trend for BBL12, and although Blundstone Arena may provide a truer surface than we've seen this season, the spinners are again likely to be the ones to watch.
Shadab Khan has been excellent with his leg spin bowling, and is a world-class option for the Hurricanes. He's taken a wicket in each game so far in BBL12 and we'll back that to continue.
Akeal Hosein has been strong for the Renegades with seven wickets in his three matches. The Hurricanes will go hard at him which should create wicket-taking opportunities.
Finally we'll throw in Matthew Wade to make at least 15 runs. He's been in excellent form and looks at his destructive best. According to our BBL12 Data Tools, Wade has scored at least 10 runs in 73% of his BBL matches.
Hurricanes win
Shadab Khan 1+ wickets
Akeal Hosein 1+ wickets
Matthew Wade 15+ runs
