The final round of BBL07 kicks off this Wednesday night. With only the Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers having guaranteed their place in the finals, the other two spots are still hotly contested between four teams, which makes Round 10 an exciting one! See our preview and tips for all four games of the round below.
BBL07 Round 10 Betting Tips
Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Renegades (Wednesday 7.40pm AEDT)
This promises to be an interesting matchup as both the Renegades and Thunder can still make the finals in BBL07. The Gades currently sit in prime position in 4th place as the sole team with two games in Round 10. If they win both of their Round 10 games, they are guaranteed a spot in the finals, whereas winning just one would mean they have to rely on other results to go their way.
Cameron White was granted permission to play in the Renegades Monday night clash against the Strikers but will likely be back out of the line-up for Wednesday night’s game with the 4th ODI coming up on Friday. They’ll also be missing Aaron Finch, leaving their batting line-up severely depleted.
The Thunder have won two of their last three games to come charging back into the finals race after the return of Usman Khawaja sparked the men in green. The Thunder batting line-up, which was a bit of a weakness at the start of the season, not looks like one of the strongest in the league with Khawaja, James Vince and Shane Watson filling the top three spots.
The Thunder start as slight favourites for the clash and given the Renegades have now lost their last three games since Finch and co. departed for international duty, its easy to see why. Really tough game to call here with so much on the line for both teams, we’ll be staying away from this one.
TIP: No bet
Perth Scorchers vs Adelaide Strikers (Thursday 7.40pm AEDT)
Adelaide and Perth will battle it out for the top spot on the BBL07 ladder in their Round 10 clash at the WACA on Thursday night. Both currently sitting on 7 wins and 2 losses through their first nine games, the equation is simple here. The winner will take top spot and earn the right to host their first semi-final, and should they make it, the final too.
For the Scorchers, a win here would mark their second year in a row finishing on top of the ladder, while Adelaide can return to the top of the table after finishing there back to back years in BBL05 and BBL06.
After the Scorchers lost the bulk of their bowling line-up in David Willey, Andrew Tye and Jhye Richardson to international duty, many thought their season would fall away. However, they have managed to fill the gaps and play some great cricket, winning two of three since the ODI series started. The likes of Ashton Turner, Cameron Bancroft have really stepped up to lead the team with the bat while Matthew Kelly and Joel Paris have done a fantastic job with the ball in the absence of the quicks.
Strikers wicket-keeper Alex Carey, who smashed a brilliant 100 in the team’s win over Hobart last week, was called into the Australian line-up due to illness to Tim Paine. Carey could be back in the line-up but Travis Head will miss the clash against the Scorchers Thursday night, leaving the Strikers batting line-up a little thin. Perth is always a tough place to play so we like the Scorchers here, who have shown their depth is capable of withstanding the mass international duty exodus.
TIP: Perth Scorchers to win - $1.87 at Sportsbet
Melbourne Stars vs Hobart Hurricanes (Saturday 4.10pm AEDT)
The first of the Saturday night double header will feature the Melbourne Stars hosting the Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG from 4.10pm. The Stars won’t be playing for a finals spot, having secured just one win from their eight games at the time of writing. However, they will be bidding farewell to Kevin Pietersen, who has been a star of the competition for the majority of its existence, so they should be fired up and hunting a win for the big Englishman.
Without knowing what has happened in the three games still to be played at time of writing before this clash kicks off, it’s hard to know where the Hurricanes will sit going into this game. They might have already secured their spot in the finals with five wins from nine games, or this game could be absolutely crucial. They currently sit one win ahead of the Renegades, Thunder and Heat, but their net run rate of -0.227 is less than desirable, which means they’ll likely need to win this match to make the finals.
Luckily for the Hurricanes, they haven’t been affected by international selection at all. And have an extremely powerful batting line-up to call upon. Led by the league’s leading run scorer, D’Arcy Short, the Hurricanes have really only failed with the bat once this season, and a five-game winning streak in the middle of the season saw them surpass the 170 mark in each game where they batted first.
The MCG pitch has been an absolute belter to bat on all season long, with a draw in the Test match and some big scores being posted there throughout the BBL. No markets available for the game yet but Hobart should start as favourites here and we like them to get the job done to make finals.
TIP: Hobart to win – Price not yet available
Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades (Saturday 6.25pm AEDT)
Brisbane have the difficult, but beneficial task of sitting back and watching Round 10 play out before playing the final match of the regular season at home against the Renegades on Saturday night. By then, they’ll know exactly what they need to do to make the finals, if it’s even possible. The Heat currently have four wins heading into Round 10, but with the worst run rate of the four teams vying for the final two spots in the finals, you’d think their fate might already be decided.
With a really good net run rate to fall back on, the Renegades will likely only need to win one of their two remaining matches to make the finals. They’ll just be praying they can get to the semis before adding some major talent in Cameron White and Aaron Finch back into the line-up to make a run at their first ever Grand Final.
The big talking point of the game here will be whether Heat superstar Chris Lynn will line-up. After being named in the Australian T20 tri-series squad to play New Zealand and England, Cricket Australia will have the final say on whether he will be able to play Saturday night. With the hard-hitting opener still recovering from a calf injury, it’s hard to say whether CA will give him the all clear.
Lynn is a massive swing factor in this game and without knowing whether or not he’ll play, it’s too hard to make a call here, check back later in the week closer to Saturday to read our tip!
TIP: No market yet available, tip to come!
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