The 2024-25 Big Bash League season continues on Thursday night as the Melbourne Renegades take on the Hobart Hurricanes at GMHBA Stadium from 7:15pm (AEDT). As always, we have you covered with a full match preview, best bet, and prop bet below. Good luck to everyone following along!
BBL14 Renegades vs Hurricanes Betting Tips
GMHBA Stadium, Geelong, Thursday 19th December, 7.15pm (AEDT)
Renegades
The Gades failed to kick their season off on the right note on Monday night as they went down to the Sydney Sixers by five wickets (9 balls to spare). Batting first, the Renegades put up a semi-respectable 7/169 on the back of a solid 55 (42) from Tim Seifert as well as some cameos from hard hitting openers in Josh Brown (22 off 10) and Jake Fraser McGurk (21 off 12).
The Gades bowling looked a little thin on the back end, with only veteran Kane Richardson able to maintain an economy rate under 8.0 as the Sixers cruised home. On the team front, the big watch will be the availability of Englishman Jacob Bethell as the Gades confirmed he has now joined the team after the successful Test series in New Zealand. I think it’s likely they give him one more game off to acclimate, however.
Predicted XI: Josh Brown, Jake Fraser McGurk, Tim Seifert, Mackenzie Harvey, Laurie Evans, Will Sutherland, Hassan Khan, Tom Rogers, Fergus O’Niell, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
Hurricanes
The Canes will kick off their BBL14 campaign with the trip to Geelong on Thursday night, so there is no prior form to navigate here. Hobart barely missed the finals series last season, finishing in 5th place on the table just one win behind the Strikers. As such, they’ve largely backed their core to take the next step, and haven’t been extremely busy during the off-season.
West Indian Shai Hope headlines the inclusions along with Afghani Waqar Salamkheil but there’s no doubt that the Tasmanians will be relying on stalwarts in the likes of Ben McDermott, Matt Wade, Nathan Ellis, Tim David and Chris Jordan to shoulder the bulk of the load this season.
Predicted XI: Matthew Wade, Caleb Jewell, Shai Hope, Ben McDermott, Tim David, Nikhil Shaudhary, Chris Jordan, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Waqar Salamkheil, Riley Meredith
Prediction
A solid No.3 to relieve the pressure eon Ben McDermott and Tim David is what the Canes have been craving for a few years now and they have finally got that in Shai Hope. I think this batting line-up is one of the best in the league with the addition of Hope, and it’s one that shouldn’t be affected by any international selection throughout the season so it will get the opportunity to build chemistry together.
The Canes bowling line-up is also extremely solid, led by the perennially underrated Nathan Ellis, who has been arguably Australia’s best white ball bowler over the past two years. On paper, I like the Cane train to travel to Geelong and get the job done here.
Hurricanes H2H
$1.77 (3 Units)
Player Prop
Ben McDermott might have never travelled down the Princes Freeway to play at Geelong, but his record against the Renegades it too good to overlook here. In 12 career games against Melbourne, he has smashed 599 runs at a ridiculous average of 74.88 and a strike-rate of 153.2. The short square boundaries at GMHBA should also play right into McDermotts game here. I’m expecting him to go large.
Ben McDermott 30+ Runs
$2.25
