Perth Scorchers take on Melbourne Stars on Saturday at the WACA hoping to consolidate their position as leaders in the Big Bash points table. A win will also guarantee their progress to the play-offs although their net run rate is strong enough to suggest they’ll be fine regardless.
The Scorchers appear to have hit form at the right time. And the layers are on to it making them 1.8 (Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hill, Paddy Power) against the Stars who go off as big as 2.1 (Bet365, Stan James).
Unlike the Scorchers, the Stars are on the wane. Sure, they won last time out against the Adelaide Strikers but it was a mighty struggle against one of the weaker teams in the competition. That may be because the Stars are actually one of the poorest teams.
They have been hugely unimpressive so far as pre-tournament favourites and with only two games to play, the pressure is on.
Victory against the Strikers exposed some weaknesses in their line-up. For a start they have lost Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner and Adam Zampa to Australia duty. This rips the spine from the team.
It also means they have one of the longest tails in the tournament. AT No 8 they have Ben Hilfenhaus. Now, Hilfenhaus actually won them the game against the Strikers with a left-field innings which no-one saw coming. It happened largely thanks to hopeless Strikers death bowling.
But it is crazy to rely on Hilfenhaus at No 8, a key position in T20. You need a genuine all-rounder there who can biff it out of the park with talent, rather than luck. As a contrast, Perth have Tim Bresnan who has six first-class centuries.
This lack of batting depth means that Kevin Pietersen, who likes the WACA surface, has little to beat as top runscorer. He is 3.75 with Bet365, Paddy Power and Coral. Rob Quiney, the opener, is 4.5 with Bet365, Ladbrokes and Coral and is probably the best alternative if those odds aren’t your bag.
Luke Wright, Quiney’s opening partner, is helter skelter, and after he lost his wicket to Ben Dunk, a wicketkeeper, against Strikers we are inclined never to trust him again.
With the ball Hilfenhaus should be outright jolly for top Stars bowler. Instead he is joint 4 with Scott Boland at Boylesports, Paddy Power, William Hill. Boland has a strike rate of 15 in this campaign compared to Hilfenhaus’s 13.5.
The Perth market is interesting, too. AJ Tye took a hat-trick at the death in their last outing against the Heat to give him a strike rate of 14.8. Wickets are easier to come by at the death of an innings as batsmen take more risks.
But two bowlers go at the death. And Tye was paired with the slippery Jhye Richardson. Tye is 3.75 (Bet365, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, William Hill) and Richardson a whopping 7 on some green listed bookmakers. There are far worse shouts out there and he has to be considered great value.
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