FANTASY
Follow UsIt is time for the most successful team in BBLs history to take the field. Three-time champions Perth Scorchers will face the Melbourne Renegades who ended up with a wooden spoon in the last season.
The Scorchers themselves have failed to make it to the Playoffs in the last two seasons and will be looking to change that. With a lot of players on both sides busy with international duty or caught in quarantine, here is the suggested fantasy XI from the players available. However, do take the final call based on who happens to be in the XI after the toss. Unless you expect a player to come in as an X-Factor.
Suggested Team
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.
For the Renegades, James Pattinson, Will Sutherland and Marcus Harris are unavailable as they are busy with the national or Australia A side. While Imran Tahir, Imad Wasim and Mohammed Nabi will be available later in the tournament. Also, Cameron Boyce is out of the first game due to health reasons.
The Scorchers will miss the services of Liam Livingstone and Jason Roy till December 25th as they are currently in quarantine.
Ground Details
Among the venues that have hosted more than one game since BBL 2018, The Bellerive Oval in Hobart has been the best for the batsmen. Runs here have come at an average run-rate of 8.5. The runs have come at a brisk pace against both pace and spin.
In this period, the average first innings score has been 174, which reduces to 153 in the second innings.
The first game of the BBL 10 held here saw a good contest between bat and bowl where the Hobart pacers won the game for their side in the death overs.
While the pacers have been more expensive than spinners - run-rate of 8.8 vs 8.1 – they have also taken wickets more frequently – 15.9 vs 24.6 balls per wicket. Even among the pacers, the left-armers have taken a wicket every 14.7 balls. So keep an eye out for the inclusion of Josh Lalor and Jason Behrendorff in your XI.
There could be a few interesting match-ups too.
Josh Inglis was one of the primary batsmen for Scorchers in the last season. He scored 400 plus runs at a strike-rate of above 150. He was also Scorchers’ best player of spin. However, there is one bowler in the Renegades squad capable of troubling him. Off 11 balls Inglis has faced against Kane Richardson, he has scored only 10 runs and has been dismissed twice.
Captain Selection
With 15 wickets to his name, Fawad Ahmed was the third-highest wicket-taker among spinners in BBL 9. In the only game he played at the Bellerive Oval last year, he bowled an impressive spell of 2/15. Being an attacking spinner, he is likely to be among the wickets once again and will help you earn crucial fantasy points.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Ahmed to get 1-2 wickets that will earn him 27-62 fantasy points.
Crucial Picks
With 405 runs to his name, Josh Inglis was the among the top-10 highest run-getters in BBL 9. While these came at a strike-rate of 154, against spin this strike-rate went in excess of 170. Also, being a wicket-keeper he is sure to earn you points with his glove work.
Our fantasy research predicts Inglis to earn 17-45 fantasy points in this match.
Mitchell Marsh has a point to prove in this season. This might be his last opportunity to earn the credentials for Australia’s white-ball team. Under extra motivation, Marsh – leading the Scorchers side – will look to improve on his tally of 382 runs at an average of 34.733 last year. Handy with ball, Marsh can earn you points by taking crucial wickets for his side.
Our fantasy research predicts Marsh could earn 14-59 fantasy points in this match.
Shaun Marsh was the leading run-scorer for the Renegades in the last season. He achieved this feat despite not playing two games. Although he tends to play with a low strike-rate – 124 in the last season – he has a knack of scoring runs and does not throws his wicket away. This makes him the ideal player for a fantasy XI.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Marsh could score 17-40 runs in this match.
