Fans are treated to a Big Bash triple-header on Sunday and we’ve selected the final game as our match of the round.
Perth’s new Optus Stadium plays host to the growing rivalry between the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers.
Both teams have tasted premiership success and have encountered each other in two Grand Finals throughout the short existence of the competition.
The Sixers have been mixing their form over the first half of this year’s competition whilst the Scorchers, who were amongst competition favourites coming in, have underperformed and sit on the bottom of the table with just two wins from seven matches.
The biggest headache for the Scorcher’s has been their patchy batting displays. No one in their top order has fired consistently at this stage. Captain Ashton Turner has often been left to do too much on his own. He will be looking for more power hitting from the likes of Cam Bancroft and Hilton Cartwright.
Their pace bowling is still amongst the best in the competition. Nathan Coulter-Nile could consider himself unlucky not to be in Australia’s ODI squad whilst English import, David Willey, is an effective option at any stage of an innings.
They will miss strike weapon Jason Berendorf who has been rewarded with national selection. Andrew Tye has the best array of change ups in the competition.
Similar to their opposition, the Sixers wins have come mainly from tight bowling that has been good enough to cover poor batting displays.
English import Joe Denly finally contributed with 76* in their last start win over Adelaide. He now returns home for national duties and the Sixers will look towards the consistent Moises Henriques and Daniel Hughes to fill the void. James Vince comes in to replace Denly.
With the ball, the Sixers will also dearly miss Tom Curran who will accompany Denly home. Steve O’Keefe has been sensational throughout the all important power play overs. Ben Dwarshuis and Sean Abbott will have important roles to play as the innings progresses.
Expecting the home crowd advantage and the fact that the Sixers will be missing two key international imports to just be enough to get the Scorchers home.
Tip: Scorchers @1.8
Scorchers Top Run Scorer: Hilton Cartwright @5
Sixers Top Run Scorer: Moises Henriques @4
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