The halfway point of BBL12 is almost upon us, as the Hurricanes take on the Strikers battling for crucial points as the finals race heats up!
Jack Tobin has you covered with a preview for Hurricanes vs Strikers, and for tips on every game this season, head to our BBL Tips page.
BBL12 Hurricanes vs Strikers Preview & Betting Tips
Blundstone Arena, Monday 2nd December, 7:15pm (AEDT)
Hobart Hurricanes
Predicted XI: D'Arcy Short, Ben McDermott, Matthew Wade, Shadab Khan, Tim David, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Joel Paris, Nathan Ellis, Paddy Dooley, Riley Meredith
It’s been an up and down campaign for a Hurricanes side that had high expectations coming into BBL12. At the time of writing, the Hurricanes have gone win-loss-win-loss to kick off the season, after their bowlers dragged the side to an improbable win over the Renegades on Christmas Eve. The Hurricanes have plenty of power in their batting, it’s all about finding some consistency.
Ben McDermott has been named in the Hurricanes squad after recovering from a hamstring injury, while Matthew Wade was back to his best last innings with a swashbuckling 19-ball fifty against the Thunder. They'll need these two to again provide the launch pad for the innings. Jimmy Neesham's time with the Hurricanes has come to an end as Faheem Ashraf joins the squad following international duties with the Pakistan Test team.
Paddy Dooley (9 wickets), Riley Meredith (9 wickets) and Shadab Khan (7 wickets) are forming a strong bowling attack for the Hurricanes, while Nathan Ellis rediscovered some form with 4 wickets against the Thunder. The will be confident of taking down a top heaving Adelaide batting unit.
After the Heat's win last night, the Hurricanes now find themselves last on the BBL table and will be desperate to get the points here.
Adelaide Strikers
Predicted XI: Henry Hunt, Matt Short, Chris Lynn, Adam Hose, Colin de Grandhomme, Thomas Kelly, Harry Nielsen, Rashid Khan, Wes Agar, Henry Thornton, Peter Siddle
After a 3-0 start to the season, losses against the Heat, Scorchers and Stars have brought the Strikers back to the pack. The Strikers top order had carried the load through their opening few games, but their lack of depth with the bat has been shown up recently.
After a dominant start to the season with scores of 84, 9 and 65 through the Strikers first three games, Matt Short has been dismissed for 3, 16 and 6 in his last three games. The Strikers are heavily reliant on Short getting them off to a flyer in the powerplay. Short has scored 183 runs, the sixth most in the competition, but has had little support from his teammates outside of Chris Lynn.
The Strikers have struggled away from home this season, with a 1-2 record across three away games in BBL12. The Strikers haven’t enjoyed heading to Hobart to face the Hurricanes, having lost their last four games against the Hurricanes at Blundstone Arena.
Match Prediction
The Strikers are beginning to come back to Earth after a hot start to the season, and they’re going to face a tough challenge away against a Hurricanes outfit that always looks strong on paper. The Canes have had to integrate a lot of new pieces into their side which has caused a slightly slow start to the season, but it’s clear that with the talent they have at their disposal is as good as any side in the competition.
The Hurricanes have a bowling attack that is capable of knocking over the Strikers top order that they rely so heavily on. The Hurricanes have shown glimpses with the bat, and have a golden opportunity to kick start their climb up the ladder at home against the Strikers. The Hurricanes will have too much depth with both bat and ball, and will be too good for the Strikers.
Hurricanes to win
$1.75 (1 unit)
Same Game Multi
Matthew Wade loves playing against the Strikers, with the Hurricanes skipper scoring 341 runs at an average of 56 with a strike rate of 170. Wade has scored 35, 51, 15 and 67 to kick off his campaign.
Matt Short has had an outstanding BBL12, scoring 183 runs so far in BBL12. Short will be looking to take advantage of the short square boundaries at Blundstone Arena as he has done at the Adelaide Oval this season.
Our BBL12 Data Tools show that Riley Meredith has taken multiple wickets in five of his last six BBL games. Meredith was outstanding on Christmas Eve against the Renegades with a match winning spell of 3/12, bowling hard lengths and denying the Renegades the chance to hit to the short square boundaries.
Matthew Wade 15+ Runs
Matthew Short 15+ Runs
Riley Meredith 2+ Wickets
