FANTASY
Follow UsNOTE: All stats here are updated until 11 December 2020
While the Hobart Hurricanes began their Big Bash League 2020/21 campaign with a fighting victory against the Sydney Sixers, this will be the first game of the season for the Adelaide Strikers.
In matches between the two teams, the Strikers have had the upper hand, winning eight matches and losing five against the Hurricanes. When it comes to recent contests, the team from Adelaide have had the edge as well, winning three out of the last five contests.
BBL HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall: Matches – 14 | Strikers – 8 Wins | Hurricanes – 5 Wins | No Result – 1
Last 5 Matches: Strikers – 3 Wins | Hurricanes – 2 Wins
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.
GROUND DETAILS & TEAM COMBINATION
Among stadiums where at least 10 BBL innings have been played since 2018, the Bellerive Oval has seen the joint second-highest run-rate (8.5) during that period. The opening match of this season between the Hurricanes and Sixers saw that exact run-rate matched with 340 runs scored in 40 overs between the two teams.
The bowling strike rate at this stadium since the start of the ninth edition of BBL has been 16.3, with 14 wickets falling in that game on Thursday (December 10). From these stats, you can infer that there is usually something here for both batsmen and bowlers. We have selected five batsmen (including one wicketkeeper), two allrounders and four bowlers in our team.
As is the case in most stadiums in T20 cricket, spinners have a better economy rate while pacers tend to be taking wickets more regularly at the Bellerive Oval. The fast bowlers have a better bowling strike rate by 9.4 runs per wicket and have taken 68.5% of the wickets since 2018 in the BBL at this venue. Hence, when it comes to our frontline bowlers, we have selected three pacers and one spinner who is the brilliant Rashid Khan.
There could be a few interesting match-ups too.
There is a decent chance that Jonathan Wells and Johan Botha might come up against each other during this game. The two experienced players have faced off four times previously in T20 cricket, with Botha dismissing Wells once in 19 deliveries, but the latter would be quite pleased with his batting strike rate of 205.3 against the former.
Danny Briggs is likely to bowl an over or two during the Powerplay and his contest against fellow Englishman Will Jacks could be a really interesting one. On his BBL debut, Jacks was dismissed by a spinner in the first over of the game without scoring. But the 22-year-old does have a good record against Briggs, having scored 24 runs from 12 balls without being dismissed in T20 cricket so far.
CAPTAIN SELECTION
Colin Ingram rescued the Hurricanes from a precarious situation in their game against the Sixers. Coming into bat when the score was 0/1 which soon became 4/2, Ingram led the Hobart fightback with a well-made 55. In 2020, Ingram currently has a batting average of 32.63 and strike rate of 145.8 in T20 cricket.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Ingram could score 12-29 runs in this match.
X-FACTORS
While it was Philip Salt’s strike rate rather than his consistency that caught the eye last season, he could turn out be a good choice for your team. He had four 50+ scores from 15 innings in his debut BBL season last time around. With that experience under his belt, there’s a good chance he improves those numbers in BBL 10.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Salt could score 14-37 runs in this match.
D’Arcy Short was dismissed for a first-ball duck against the Sixers, but despite that, he remains a top option because of his consistency in the BBL over the years. Across the last four editions of the competition, no-one has scored more runs than him (1566). He could get you some key points with the ball as well.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Short could score 17-40 runs and could take 0-1 wickets in this match.
Rashid Khan is the No.1-ranked bowler in the world in men’s T20Is and with good reason. When it comes to the BBL, he has taken 56 wickets in 40 innings at a strike rate of 16.6 which are really impressive numbers. There are times when Rashid might provide you with some valuable points with the bat too.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Rashid could take 1-2 wickets in this match.
