Melbourne Stars vs Hobart Hurricanes Big Bash League Expert Tips
Hard to tip against the Hurricanes despite the Stars being the only team to beat Hobart in their last 11 BBL games, so don’t.
The 40-run win by Melbourne in Melbourne in the final game of BBL|14 was impressive, however it had no outcome on the Hurricanes season and their first-place finish in the regular season and it obviously didn’t stunt their progress on their way to their maiden BBL Title.
This match is set to produce fireworks so I am zoning in on batting props for Thursday night’s spectacular. I’m jumping on the two big hitters of the two teams, backing the ‘Canes Mitch Owen to continue his emergence as one of Australia’s best T20 batters, going over his batting total of 25.5 runs after his 30+ runs in Hobart’s first outing.
With a deep batting order I also like the Hurricanes to hit over 18.5 boundaries in the match after hitting 13 fours and 9 sixes in their chase of just 180 runs against the Thunder in their opening match.
There is no more prolific T20 batsman than Glenn Maxwell, so there has to be a bet on his first at bat for the Stars. I’m on the king of the short game to hit the most sixes for the Stars.
- Melbourne started BBL|14 with 5 straight losses.
- Glenn Maxwell hit 27 sixes in BBL|14, the second-most of any player in the league.
- Mitch Owen scored 32 runs in his opening match of BBL|15
- The Hurricanes had 21 boundaries in their
Melbourne Stars Form
BBL|14 was an improvement for the Stars who made it to the finals in fourth place with a 5-5 record, salvaging their season after a 0-5 start to the year.
The Stars were led by Aussie T20 legends Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis with the former topping the runs list with 325 from 9 innings and 3 not outs, while Stoinis tallied 311 runs from 11 at bats. Mark Steketee was a master in his 6 games for the Stars, claiming 15 wickets with a best of 5/17 against the ‘Gades.
Melbourne recruited well in the offseason, picking up Liam Hatcher from the Thunder. The quick missed the BBL season last year but will return to Melbourne where he took 24 total wickets in BBL13-14. Experienced leg-spinner Mitch Swepson also joins the group from the Heat.
Hobart Hurricanes Form
The Hurricanes started their title defence is superb fashion, picking up right where they left off, with another victory against their Grand Final opponent the Sydney Thunder.
The ‘Canes chased down a modest 180-run total set by the Thunder, doing on the back of a splendid 48-run partnership of Final hero Mitch Owen (32 runs) and Nikhil Chaudhary (41 runs). The second-wicket partnership also beared fruit with Ben McDermott scoring 38 from 24 balls, making the job easy for the middle order.
The chase was possible after a solid bowling performance from the Hurricanes with Billy Stanlake taking 3 wickets for 34 runs while Chris Jordan (2 wickets and Nathan Ellis (1 wicket) also took down the Thunder batsmen. Bangladesh spinner Rishad Hossain slowed down the pace going for just 18 runs from his three overs.
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