The Melbourne Stars head to Adelaide for a New Year’s Eve blockbuster against the Adelaide Strikers on the back of a two-game winning streak that has breathed life back into their season. It’s a crucial clash in the finals race, and we’ve got you covered with our best bets!
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BBL13 Betting Tips
Adelaide Strikers vs Melbourne Stars
Adelaide Oval, Sunday December 31st, 7:15pm AEDT
Adelaide Strikers
Predicted XI: D'Arcy Short, Matt Short, Chris Lynn, Jake Weatherald, Adam Hose, Jamie Overton, James Bazley, Harry Nielsen, Wes Agar, David Payne, Cameron Boyce
Back to back losses has seen the Strikers season stagnate, with the Strikers sitting in fifth position at the time of writing. The Strikers had a night to forget at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, soundly beaten by the previously winless Renegades as their target of 177 was reached with eight balls remaining. The Strikers will welcome a return to the Adelaide Oval given they’ve lost seven consecutive games on the road.
The pace of the Strikers top three batsmen has been a major issue in their last two games, with D’Arcy Short taking 47 balls to reach 54 against the Renegades, putting them behind the eight ball when they should have comfortably made 200. In their one run loss to the Sydney Sixers Matt Short chewed up 48 balls to make 55, in a chase of just 156. The Strikers cannot afford to have one of their top three taking up nearly 50 balls and not making a match winning innings, and it’s putting a mountain of pressure on their middle order to provide match winning cameos.
The Strikers bowling attack was put to the sword at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, with an abundance of late wickets making the scoreboard look more respectable than the game actually was. Four of the seven bowlers the Strikers used against the Renegades went at an economy rate of over 10, with James Bazley (1/21) and Jamie Overton (1/29) the only respectable figures.
Melbourne Stars
Predicted XI: Tom Rogers, Sam Harper, Beau Webster, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Lawrence, Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Imad Wasim, Jonathan Merlo, Brody Couch, Joel Paris
The Stars will be forced into at least two changes for the New Year’s Eve clash as Haris Rauf and Usama Mir leave for national duties with Pakistan's T20 series against New Zealand. The Stars have signed Dan Lawrence for the remainder of the season, with the Englishman set to boost the Stars batting stocks nicely. Brody Couch has been brought into the squad and looks set to play his first game of the season to replace Rauf.
After starting the season 0-3 and staring down the barrel of a fourth consecutive season without a finals appearance. However wins over the Sixers and the Hurricanes away from home has the Stars finals hopes well and truly alive after moving into fourth position at the time of writing. Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 35 off just 18 balls ensured the Stars chased down a revised 67 off seven overs, despite falling to 3/7 early in the chase.
The Stars success in their win over the Hurricanes on Friday night was built on the performance of their spinners who played a huge role in bowling out the Hurricanes for 155. Glenn Maxwell (3/29), Imad Wasim (1/16) and Usama Mir (1/24) did an outstanding job containing the Hurricanes powerful batting unit, and spin bowling has been an area of weakness for the Strikers this season. Todd Murphy (1/14), Steve O’Keefe (0/22), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/20) and Adam Zampa (0/25) were all able to get on top of the Strikers batsmen across the last two games. Maxwell, Wasim and Dan Larwence will have a massive say for the Stars on Sunday night.
Match Prediction
This fixture pits two teams on opposing streaks of form, and with the Stars receiving a boost to their under performing batting stocks, there is plenty of upside for the Stars. With the Strikers top order struggling for fluency, expect plenty of spin bowling to be thrown their way early, particularly from Imad Wasim to Lynn and Matt Short.
Although the Stars have struggled over the last three seasons, the only team they haven’t had any issues with is the Adelaide Strikers. The Stars have won four of the last five encounters between the two sides, including both games last season. This looms as a perfect matchup for the Stars given their spinning stocks, and with the momentum they’ve built, they’ll knock over a struggling Strikers side on the road.
Melbourne Stars
$2.00 (1 Unit)
Same Game Multi
Jamie Overton To Take a Wicket: The English import has had an impressive start to his BBL career with the ball in hand, taking six wickets from three games to be the Strikers leading wicket taker. Overton’s six wickets have come at an average of 13.50 with an economy rate of 6.75, and he’s taken a wicket in every game he’s played.
Beau Webster 15+ Runs: Webster will be eager to continue his great form with the bat after not featuring in the Stars rained shortened innings against the Hurricanes. Webster has 98 runs at an average of 32 this season, and will be incredibly dangerous with the short square boundaries at the Adelaide Oval.
Glenn Maxwell 15+ Runs: Maxwell was at his scintillating best to get the Stars over the line against the Hurricanes, and has threatened to go big in each game he has played so far this season. Maxwell has hit the 15 run mark in three of his four games, but has yet to make and 50, and is due for a big score against the Strikers.
