BBL13 continues on Thursday night with the Hobart Hurricanes hosting the Melbourne Stars at Blundstone Arena.
It’s a must-win clash for both teams, as they run the risk of falling out of finals contention with another loss.
Josh Nevett provides his full match preview and betting tips below.
Also, make sure to check out our full Hurricanes vs Stars Fantasy Tips here!
BBL13 Hurricanes vs Stars Betting Tips
Blundstone Arena, Thursday 28th December, 7:15pm (AEDT)
Hobart Hurricanes
Hobart will be well rested heading into this match against the Stars, having played just three games to date with their last clash concluding on Saturday.
The Hurricanes managed to win that fixture against the Renegades, kickstarting their campaign after a 0-2 start.
Local stars Paddy Dooley and Nathan Ellis were instrumental in the bowling performance, each taking 2/32 as Hobart held the Renegades to 5/183 after a rough start.
The chase turned out to be a relatively straightforward one, thanks to the efforts of Matthew Wade (82 off 50) and Mac Wright (63 off 36). It was a breakthrough knock for Wright, who hit five maximums after missing out on selection in the first two matches.
As such, it will be interesting to see how the selectors put together the XI for the match against the Stars.
Ben McDermott missed against the Renegades and will likely be available on Thursday, so who will he replace if not Wright?
Predicted XI: Matthew Wade, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Sam Hain, Tim David, Mac Wright, Corey Anderson, Chris Jordan, Patrick Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith
Melbourne Stars
The Melbourne Stars resurrected their season with an upset win over the Sydney Sixers on Tuesday night.
Pakistani imports Usama Mir (3/19) and Haris Rauf (3/38) combined to dismantle the Sixers batting line-up, restricting the men in magenta to just 8/154.
Mir was particularly impressive, deceiving the batsmen with changes in pace, flight and turn. As such, it’s a shame that both he and Rauf will be forced to depart for international duty after this fixture.
It was always going to be a tricky chase for the Stars fragile batting group, and failures from big names Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis stacked the odds even further against the Victoria side.
Step forward Hilton Cartwright – the experienced hitter led a recovery from 4/66 to guide his team to victory with three balls to spare. Cartwright finished on 47*, while Beau Webster also contributed 35.
The Stars still have a lot of work to do to climb up the table, but at least they can attack the match against the Hurricanes with an unchanged, winning XI.
Predicted XI: Tom Rogers, Sam Harper, Beau Webster, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Imad Wasim, Jono Merlo, Usama Mir, Joel Paris, Haris Rauf
Match Prediction
After slow starts, both of these teams have now found some touch, and will front up for this encounter with strong squads to choose from.
While the Stars are unlikely to cause much damage over the rest of this campaign, they will have a very flexible and balanced XI for this game before Mir and Rauf leave the camp.
However, Hobart will enjoy playing at home for the second straight occasion, and their pace bowling stocks are far more impressive.
As such, I’m backing the Hurricanes in a tight one.
Hobart Hurricanes to Win
$1.72 (2 Units)
Same Game Multi
Webster sits ninth in the run scoring charts for BBL13, with 98 to his name. The Tasmanian should be very familiar with the playing conditions at Blundstone Arena, so I’m expecting him to add to his tally on Thursday.
Jewell has hit nine boundaries this campaign, at an average of three per game. Melbourne’s opening bowler options aren’t the most impressive, so Jewell should find the rope at least once here.
Match Betting – Hobart Hurricanes
Player to Score 15+ Runs – Beau Webster
Player to Hit 1+ Fours – Caleb Jewell
