After a couple of days off for the Christmas celebrations, the Big Bash League resumes on Boxing Day with a tasty double header kicking off from 6.05pm. The Sixers take on the Stars in the opening game of the night and we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
BBL14 Sixers vs Stars Betting Tips
SCG, Thursday 26th December, 6.05pm
Sixers
The Sixers find themselves in familiar territory through two games of the BBL14 season, currently undefeated and in 3rd place on the table. They were too good for the Renegades in their season opener, winning by five wickets on the back of a blistering knock from skipper Moises Henriques.
They backed that up with another victory over cross town rivals in the Sydney Thunder on Saturday night. Batting second again, the Sixers chased down the 163 run total on the very last ball of the match, led by contributions from Jordan Silk (36 off 25) and Josh Philippe (35 off 27). The Sixers will make a few changes, most notably Sean Abbott, who will miss due to being part of the Test squad. Hayden Kerr will be the likely inclusion there.
Predicted XI: James Vince, Josh Philippe, Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Jack Edwards, Hayden Kerr, Ben Dwarshuis, Joel Davies, Akeal Hosein, Todd Murphy
Stars
As has been the case so often in recent history, the Stars have high expectations coming into a BBL season only to kick off their campaign in horror form. They are 0-3 to start the season and sit on the bottom of the BBL table, having lost to the Scorchers, Heat and most recently the Strikers, in their opening three games.
Bowling first, the Stars kept the Strikers to a manageable 6/165 at Adelaide Oval as Kiwi Adam Milne and veteran Peter Siddle both picked up two wickets. Despite a gallant 48 from opener Sam Harper, the Stars couldn’t get the job done in the chase, falling to 9/150 off their 20 overs. Beau Webster will miss on Boxing Day after being added to the Test squad while Adam Milne’s BBL14 campaign is now finished.
Predicted XI: Sam Harper, Ben Duckett, Glenn, Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tom Rogers, Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran, Usama Mir, Joel Paris, Brody Couch, Peter Siddle
Prediction
To be fair, the Stars have had a horror run to start the season with games against teams who look to be primed for championship contention. It doesn’t get any easier here though against the Sixers, who have arguably been the benchmark of the competition for the last five years.
In 22 games against the Stars over the course of the Big Bash League, they have an absolutely dominant 14-8 record and I expect that to improve on Boxing Day. Back them to win at decent odds of $1.77.
Sixers H2H
$1.77 (2 Units)
Player Prop
One player in green who I do fancy on Thursday night is Hilton Cartwright. The all-rounder seems to love playing at the SCG over the course of his BBL career, having scored 176 runs across eight innings at a healthy average of 44.0. Back him at good odds to top the runscorers for the Stars.
Cartwright Top STA Runscorer
$11
