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The first Melbourne derby of this BBL campaign takes place on Tuesday as the Stars take on the Renegades and it is the Stars who are narrow favourites with odds of 4/5 (1.80) to win and our pick to win the game.
These odds from Ladbrokes were correct at the time of writing.
- Match 27, BBL 2022-23
- Tuesday, January 3rd, from 08:15 am GMT
- Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Pitch Report and Weather Conditions
Contents
This is the second game of the BBL season at the MCG with the previous match producing totals of 183-5 and 145-9. Over the last four seasons, the pitch has become easier to bat on and the average first innings score has risen year on year from 154 in 2017 to 172 in 2022. Furthermore, this is the venue where we have seen the only BBL century so far in this season’s tournament.
We expect to see plenty of clouds throughout this game although no rain, so there should be no interruptions to the match. The temperature will be no higher than 19 degrees with a moderate level of humidity in Melbourne.
Melbourne Stars vs Melbourne Renegades – Match Predictions
As well as city bragging rights for the two sets of supporters, there is plenty to play for in this game. Only two points separate the teams in fourth to eighth with the Melbourne teams in fifth and sixth place.
Neither team are in strong form although Melbourne Stars did win their last match, by eight runs against Adelaide Strikers. Melbourne Stars have a strong head to head record against their city rivals and come into this match with a 15-7 lead, so we would give them the edge.
Prediction 1
Stars to Hit Most Sixes
6/5 (2.20)
Prediction 2
Wood to Take Most Wickets for Stars
11/4 (3.75)
Prediction 3
Finch to Be the Man of the Match
9/1 (10.00)
Probable 6s
Although Melbourne Renegades have big-hitters like Martin Guptill in their side, not much has come off for the team’s batting line-up over recent games. With Marcus Stoinis and Joe Clarke in fine form for the Stars, we expect to see them clear the boundary rope more often than the Renegades.
Our Prediction: Melbourne Stars to Hit Most Sixes
Probable Wickets
Left-arm pace bowler Luke Wood is one of only two players to have taken a 5-wicket haul in the 2022-23 BBL. Although he went wicketless in the last match, Wood has dismissed 11 batters from 23.3 overs and he has out-performed the world class Trent Boult for Melbourne Stars across this campaign.
After taking nine wickets from the opening five games of the tournament, Melbourne Renegades had the luxury of being able to rest Sean Abbott for their game on Friday. He has a strike-rate of 12 in the 2022-23 BBL and is the leading wicket taker on his side.
Our Prediction: Luke Wood to Be the Highest Wicket Taker for Melbourne Stars
Man of the Match
Australia’s T20I captain Aaron Finch has had a fine individual season for Melbourne Renegades so far. He hit 65 runs from 48 balls in the last game against Perth Scorchers and only Alex Hales has scored more runs than Finch this season. With the highest batting average of any player to have played at least four games so far, Finch is a strong contender to put in the best performance across both sides.
Our Prediction: Aaron Finch to be the Man of the Match.
Melbourne Stars vs Melbourne Renegades Preview
It’s always exciting to see a city derby play out in Melbourne, so let’s take a closer look at the upcoming duel between Stars and Renegades:
Melbourne Stars
146 of Melbourne Stars’ 186 runs came from three players in their win over Adelaide Strikers. Opener Joe Clarke, who has already scored a century at the MCG in this campaign, made 42 runs and shared a first wicket partnership of 63 with Thomas Rogers.
Batting all-rounder Marcus Stoinis exploded into form with 74 runs from 35 balls, a performance which earned him the Player of the Match Award. It was a welcome innings for Stoinis who had produced only 14 runs from his previous four innings for the Stars.
Squad: Joe Clarke (wk), Beau Webber, Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Nick Larkin, Campbell Kellaway, Luke Wood, Trent Boult, Liam Hatcher, Adam Zampa (c)
Melbourne Renegades
After beginning the season with three successive wins, it has all gone wrong for Melbourne Renegades. They have lost four matches in a row and a fourth bottom place finish in the BBL is on the cards unless they turn their form around.
There may well need to be a shuffle of positions at the top of the batting order. Captain Nic Maddinson has recorded scores of 0, 0, 1, 0 and 2 from his last five innings with his opening partner, New Zealander Martin Guptill, contributing 6, 12 and 0 since joining the Renegades as Andre Russell’s replacement.
Squad: Martin Guptill, Nic Maddinson (c), Peter Handscomb (wk), Aaron Finch, Jonathan Wells, Mackenzie Harvey, Will Sutherland, Akeal Hosein, Tom Rogers, Kane Richardson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
How to Watch Big Bash in the UK: Live Streaming & Channel List
This Stars vs Renegades game will be shown in full on the Sky Sports Cricket channel with fans able to stream the match via laptops, tablets and phones on Sky Go.
- Sky Sports Cricket (TV)
- SkyGo app (Streaming)
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