After a brief hiatus for the 1st Test of the summer, the Big Bash League returns on Tuesday night as the Strikers take on the Thunder at Adelaide Oval from 7.15pm. As always, we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
BBL13 Strikers vs Thunder Betting Tips
Strikers
The Strikers were slated to kick off their season last week with a home clash against the Heat, however, the match was abandoned without a ball bowled due to inclement weather, so we’ll see Adelaide in action for the first time on Tuesday night.
It’ll be a mix of old and new in the Strikers line-up for their first hitout of the season, with newcomers in the likes of D’Arcy Short and Jamie Overton set to make their debut in blue. Matt Short will captain the side with the absence of regular leaders Travis Head and Alex Carey for international duties.
Predicted XI: Matt Short, D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Adam Hose, Jake Weatherald, JAmes Bazley, Jamie Overton, Harry Nielsen, Wes Agar, Henry Thornton, David Payne
Thunder
The Thunder season got underway on Tuesday night with a disappointing loss to the Heat in Canberra. Bowling first, they kept their opponents to a manageable total of just 151 off their 20 overs, with spinner Tanveer Sangha the pick of the bowlers. The newly minted international took 3/21 off his four overs and is set to play a massive role as the frontline spinner for the Thunder this season.
In the end, however, it was the Thunder batting that let them down, being bowled out for just 131 in the chase. Cameron Bancroft was solid in his lime-green debut, scoring 25 off 19 to open up the innings while Ollie Davies and Chris Green both chipped in with 30s. Jason Sangha is still questionable with a wrist injury, but should come in if fit. Err on the side of caution for now.
Predicted XI: Cameron Bancroft, Alex Hales, Matt Gilkes, Ollie Davies, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Zaman Khan, Tanveer Sangha
Betting Tips
Like the look of the Thunder here. Even though they are on the road, I think their batting will be much better on the batsman friendly Adelaide Oval. In 12 games there over the course of his career, opener Alex Hales averages 50.3 at a strike rate of 153. Back him to bounce back and lead the Thunder to a win on the road against a pretty depleted Strikers side that will still be adjusting to life without R.Khan.
Thunder to win
$2.02 (1 unit)
Same Game Multi
Pretty simple one here, taking the key batsman from each team to surpass 20 runs. As we mentioned above, Hales absolutely loves batting at Adelaide Oval. To add to that, Short made light work of the 150 run total posted by the Thunder in their meeting at Adelaide Oval last year, smashing 66 off just 44 balls to guide the Strikers home.
Alex Hales 20+ Runs
Matt Short 20+ Runs
