Cricket

What We Know After Week One of the BBL 2022-23

What We Know After Week One of the BBL 2022-23

The summer of cricket continues to fly along in the Southern Hemisphere, with one week down already in Australia’s Big Bash League.

Plenty has happened already as the eight best teams in Australia get together for two months of T20 madness down under. A new world record has been set in the first week of the BBL 2022-23 already, and plenty has been revealed about where each side is at in this new season.

We take a look at what we know so far after seven games of the BBL 2022-23, and preview some of the front runners in the outright betting odds for this tournament overall.

Adelaide Strikers Get Off to Fast Start

The Adelaide Strikers have been the fastest team out of the blocks this BBL, and sit atop the table after seven games.

With two wins from two games and an incredible net run rate of 4.375, the Strikers are quickly looking like the team to beat. In their first game, they scored the highest total of the tournament so far, making 184/6 off their 20 overs. Matt Short starred with 84 off 53 balls, well supported by Chris Lynn on 41 odd 34. The Strikers then backed up their excellent batting performance by restricting the Sydney Sixers to 133/7, with Henry Thornton taking 4/20 and Rashid Khan picking up 3/21.

While this was impressive, turns out that the Strikers 51-run win over the Sixers was not to be their best performance of the week. Facing up against another Sydney side in the Thunder this time, the Strikers were a little less convincing in their batting, stuttering to 139/9 from their allotted overs. Chris Lynn again was amongst the runs with 36 from 27, while Kiwi Colin de Grandhomme also chipped in with 33 from 24. However, it turns out that 139 was more than enough for the Strikers, as they proceeded to shatter all sorts of records by bowling out the Sydney Thunder for a total of 15 runs. The Thunder’s batting line up was simply clueless against the wizardry of Thornton who took another five wickets for only three runs, while Ashton Agar picked up four wickets for six runs also.

Undoubtedly, these two performances with bat and ball put the Adelaide Strikers in the box seat this BBL season so far.

Big Bash League 2022-23

Melbourne Renegades Start Well

Sitting right behind the Adelaide Strikers on the table after week one are the Melbourne Renegades, who are also two wins from two games.

The Renegades have grafted out two solid performances so far, without being overwhelmingly flashy. Their opening game saw the Melbourne side comfortably defend 166/7 against the Brisbane Heat, winning by 22 runs. Nic Maddinson starred with the bat making 87 off 49, while West Indian Akeal Hosein was integral in restricting the Heat to 144/6, taking three wickets at an economy of just 3.8 runs per over.

In their next match, the Renegades came up against a much improved Sydney Thunder, who managed to post a respectable 174/6 to bounce back from their earlier heavy defeat. The Renegades were again clinical however, with Aaron finch spearheading their chase making 70* from 43 balls to lead Melbourne to a four-wicket victory off the penultimate ball of the innings.

Outright Betting Odds After Week One of the BBL

Unsurprisingly, the Adelaide Strikers lead the betting odds after one week of the BBL.

With odds of 7/2 (4.50), the Strikers are just ahead of the Hobart Hurricanes, who sit at 4/1 (5.00) despite being winless in their first week of the BBL. Current defending champions the Perth Scorchers sit at third favourite on 9/2 (5.50), while three-time champions the Sydney Sixers round out the top four favourites on 5/1 (6.00).

A lucrative bet to make here might be placing a cheeky punt on the Melbourne Renegades to win. Despite winning their first two matches and showing excellent composure both batting first and chasing, bookies have the Renegades at 7/1 (8.00) to win the 2022-23 BBL. With new arrival Akeal Hosein showing promise with the ball, and old-hand Aaron Finch in fine form, there’s every chance the Renegades could make a deep run here and claim their first title since the 2018-19 Big Bash.


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