After an exciting Round 1, BBL06 continues on Friday night with Round 2 as the second game of a double header between the Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers. We’ve got a full preview and big bash league betting tips for the four-match round below.
BBL06 Round 2 Betting Tips
Perth Scorchers vs Adelaide Strikers (Friday 23rd, 6.15pm AEDT)
The Perth Scorchers will open their BBL06 account as they host Adelaide on Friday night. Adeliade suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Brisbane Heat in round 1 on Wednesday night. Chasing 207 for victory, the Strikers got off to a blistering start with off season signing Ben Dunk blasting 85 off 52 balls and his opening partner Jake Weatherald making a classy 52 off 45 balls. However, it all went a bit pear shaped from there for the Strikers, just 51 runs came off the last 7 overs, including a magnificent maiden in the 13th over by world number three T20 bowler Samuel Badree. While the Strikers bowlers looked a bit out of their depth in the first innings, their batting department proved that the high scores were a product of the batter friendly Adelaide Oval in the end, with almost 400 scored in the match.
The Scorchers will enter BBL06 full of hope as the most successful team in Big Bash League history. While they haven’t exactly had a super busy off season in the way of arrivals and departures, they will go into the season with one of the strongest lists on paper. With Mitch Marsh and Adam Voges recent omission from international duty, they should come back into the Perth team, while the other Marsh, Shaun is unlikely to play due to fitness issues. Ian Bell could be the most underrated off season signing of all, coming into the side fresh from retirement from international cricket. The Scorchers look to, on paper, have too strong of a side for the Strikers in my opinion.
TIP: Scorchers to Win - $1.75 at CrownBet
Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Stars (Monday 26th, 7.10pm AEDT)
Hobart played their first game just before Round 2 kicks off and managed a really solid victory. However, they are coming up against the side that I believe has the best team on paper, the Melbourne Stars. The Stars will play their first game in this one, and will look to go one step further in BBL06 after a disappointing loss in the final last year. Like the Scorchers, the Stars had a quiet off season, not signing any key players. However, it’s the ones they retained that is the big story here. Kevin Pietersen returns, as well as T20 superstars David Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner and Luke Wright. The thing that I like most about the stars is the sheer amount of guys that can win games with either bat or ball. They bat down to number 9 and they have about 7 players that can chip in with handy overs. That’s a recipe for success in the T20 format.
The Hurricanes shouldn’t be counted out by any means, although they lost star batsman Ben Dunk, who put on a clinic Wednesday night against for the Strikers, they picked up a few handy players in international Stuart Broad and all-rounder Hamish Kingston. While the Hurricanes don’t boast the depth of some of the other teams in the comp, they do have just as many pure match winners if not more, than anyone else. Shaun Tait is capable of turning a game on its head, while Dan Christian proved last year that he is built for the T20 game. They also have a bloke that has made over 44,000 runs in his cricket career in Kumar Sangakkara, that has to count for something. In saying that, I still like the Stars to win this one away from home. I just think those 2 or 3 players have to do too much for the Hurricanes, while the Stars have a more well-rounded team that allows everyone to play a smaller role to acieve victory,
TIP: Melbourne Stars to Win - $1.57 at Sportsbet
Sydney Sixers vs Perth Scorchers (Tuesday 27th, 7.10pm AEDT)
Like the Hurricanes, the Sixers also play the game directly before round 2 commences. However, we are in the handy position of having seen them secure a good win over cross town rivals Sydney Thunder in the BBL06 season opener. The 6ers bowling attack was firing on all cylinders on Tuesday night. To think that on paper, it’s their 2nd XI bowling unit, with Mitch Starc, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all out for Test duty. That’s a scary prospect for the rest of the comp, and while I picked them to be bringing up the rear of the BBL table this year, I will admit I didn’t expect their bowling to have this much depth. They are in the enviable position of being able to bring in bowlers such as Doug Bollinger, Joe Mennie and Sean Abbot when their first unit is out, all three would start for most teams in the Big Bash League.
Perth will travel east to play their second game of Round 2 against the Sixers, and at the time of writing this, they have still not played. While I really like the look of the Scorchers team on paper, I think coming up against a firing Adelaide team and then having to back it up a few days later by travelling to Sydney to face a demonic bowling attack means that the best they can hope for is 1-1 over this two game stretch, I’m backing the Sixers to take this one at home.
TIP: Sydney Sixers to Win - $1.90 at Sportsbet
Sydney Thunder vs Brisbane Heat (Wednesday 28th, 7.10pm AEDT)
The Heat will have nice 6 day break between their first and second games of the tournament. They will look to keep momentum after their gutsy win over the Strikers in round one while the Thunder will be looking to get back on track after a upset loss to the Sixers in the first game of the season. The return of Brendon McCullum to the Heat roster has had an immediate impact, blasting a quick-fire 42 in the first match and setting up a massive score of 207 is just a small example of the things he is able to do T20 format. Pair him with last year’s leading run scorer Chris Lynn and you have a batting lineup capable of doing serious damage to any bowling attack.
The Thunder just didn’t have the firepower with the bat in their Round 1 loss to the Sixers. In their defence they were missing Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson and Aidan Blizzard, who was a surprise omission from the team. Watson is a 50-50 for the match against the Heat, while Blizzard will most likely come back into the side. I wouldn’t expect Andre Russel to have as small an impact as he did on Tuesday night either, look for the world’s best T20 player to bounce back in a big way in this one. However, even away from home, I think the Heat have a little too much firepower for a depleted Thunder team, look for them to take this one and go 2-0 on the season to set up a demorilising blow for my pre-tournament rankings.
TIP: Brisbane Heat to Win - $1.71 at Sportsbet
Take note: Any of the tips in this article are simply the author’s opinion, so bet at your own risk and always gamble responsibly. Also be sure to check out the Before You Bet Twitter Page for all our thoughts in the lead up to bets! Happy punting!
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