The Melbourne Stars sit atop the BBL09 ladder, having won their last six games in a row. They'll be looking to add a seventh straight win on Wednesday night when they square off against the Perth Scorchers from Optus Stadium. The game will begin at 9.10pm (AEDT) and we have a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Perth Scorchers Sqaud (13): Mitch Marsh (c), Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Tim David, Cameron Green, Joshua Inglis, Chris Jordan, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Jaron Morgan, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Sam Whiteman
Melbourne Stars Squad (13): Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jackson Coleman, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Lance Morris, Haris Rauf, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall
BBL09 Scorchers vs Stars Betting Tips
Perth Scorchers
It's a pressure filled time of the season for the Perth Scorchers, who currently sit in 3rd place on the BBL09 table, with a 5-4 record through nine games. Needing to make the top five to qualify for this year's finals series, the Scorchers will be desperate to finish their season on a high, as they currently have three teams within just one win of them on the table. They have back to back games against the Stars, with the Wednesday night fixture in Perth followed by a game at the MCG on Saturday night.
Mitch Marsh has been the lynchpin of the Perth batting line-up, smashing 347 runs at an average of 49.57 through the opening nine games of the season. He hasn't had a lot of help, however, with the next highest run scorer for the Scorchers being Cameron Bancroft with 201 runs. Marsh has rarely failed through the nine games so far, smashing seven scores of 20+ already and zero scores under 10. In four career games against the Melbourne Stars, Marsh avearges 47.00 runs and in nine games at Optus Stadium, he averages 45.17. Back his overs on Wednesday.
Marsh OVER 24.5 Runs
$1.88
Melbourne Stars
While the Stars have no doubt been the best team in the competition so far, a lot of their success has come on the back of a few key players. Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell have been the standouts for Melbourne, with Stoinis in particular making a mockery of the competition so far. The hard hitting opener has scored 478 runs at a ridiculous avearge of 79.67 through nine games this year, and is coming off a brilliant 147 off just 79 balls against the Sixers on Sunday. The score was the highest ever in the Big Bash League, and Stoinis will no doubt be wearing the yellow cap for the tournament's leading run scorer for some time.
We are looking past Stoinis for value on Wednesday night, however, and opting to side with his opening partner Hilton Cartwright. It took the Stars a while to settle on an opening partnership but with Cartwright impressing in his last two games, he should continue to do the job. Since taking over from Nic Maddinson at the top of the order, Cartwright has scores of 35 and 59 after scoring just 38 runs in his first three innings of the season. Seems very relaxed with Stoinis doing the bulk of the scoring at the other end and has plenty of experience playing at Optus Stadium, signing with the Stars this year after seven years at the Scorchers.
Cartwright OVER 20.5 Runs
$1.88
Prediction
Hard to look past the Stars here. With the majority of their wins coming on the back of a few key players, you have to think they will faulter sooner or later, but I can't see that happening on Wednesday night against the Scorchers. Stoinis and Maxwell are in too good of form at the moment and despite losing Adam Zampa and Dale Steyn, their bolwing stocks still look pretty strong with pace sensation Haris Rauf, Sandeep Lamichhane and Daniel Worrall spearheading the attack. They have shown the ability to win whether they bat or bowl first this season, and should continue the streak on Wednesday.
Melbourne Stars H2H
$1.66
