BBL6 Game 32 Preview - Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers @ MCG
Melbourne Stars (4-3) v Sydney Sixers (4-3) @ MCG
Preview - It's a massive game between two big franchises as the Stars and Sixers collide with plenty at stake at the MCG. The winner will guarantee their place in the finals and give themselves an opportunity to potentially finish in the Top 2 and earn a home semi-final. The loser could yet drop out of the finals with the Hurricanes and Scorchers in action earlier today. The Stars will be looking to rebound from a below par home performance against the Brisbane Heat at home on Tuesday night. The Stars could only muster 137 and were comprehensively beaten by 7 wickets in their worst display of BBL6 to date. The Sixers are in a similar boat having put in a shocking performance in an 8-wicket loss to rivals the Thunder at the SCG last Saturday night. The Sixers registered the only score under 100 in BBL6 by limping to 9/99 after a disastrous batting display. Last season the sides clashed in Sydney where the Stars ran out 5-wicket winners.
Squad Changes - The Stars have made two changes with Liam Bowe and Jackson Coleman coming back into the squad. Out go both Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis who are both part of the Australian ODI squad to take on Pakistan at the SCG on Sunday. Overall, the Stars are depleted considerably with the likes of Maxwell, Faulkner and Handscomb all missing. The Sixers have made just the one change for this crunch clash with Will Sommerville coming in for Jordan Silk. The Sixers will be missing Steven O'Keefe who is resting ahead of the Indian Test Tour in February.
Sydney Sixers Scouting Report - The Sixers have a good batting lineup on paper, however they have not clicked as expected this year. Nic Maddinson is a key player for them coming in at Number 3, however he has not clicked into gear as yet. Maddinson has just 59 runs at an average of 14 with a strike rate of 117. In fact, the Sixers have only one player in the Top 20 run scorers being Daniel Hughes who has 216 runs. The Sixers last two batting Power Plays have been a disaster and they need experienced top order batsmen Michael Lumb and Moises Henriques to hold things together in this crunch match.
With the ball, the Sixers will be looking to their spinners Nathan Lyon and Johan Botha, to dictate play in the middle overs. The Sixers' pacemen outside of Sean Abbott have struggled in BBL6 so far with Ben Dwarshuis struggling on the bowling Power Play. Dwarshuis has 9 wickets, however is conceding over 9 runs per over in BBL6.
Melbourne Stars Scouting Report - The Stars were left shell shocked last game with their batting guns Robert Quiney and Kevin Pietersen out for golden ducks. Luke Wright steps up in their absence and now has 200 runs at an average of 33 for the series. They need to get more out of David Hussey who has had a below par BBL6 with just 117 runs at an average of 17. Without the likes of Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis, there might be an opportunity for some of the Stars' lesser lights like Seb Gotch and Sam Harper to step up and score some runs.
The Stars attack was not given much to work with in their last game against the Heat, with only 137 on the board. Without Adam Zampa, they will rely on young left arm wrist spinner Liam Bowe in the middle overs to contain the Sixers' dangerous middle order. Fellow spinner Michael Beer has put together another decent BBL6 campaign by doing a good holding job in the Power Play. While Beer only has 5 wickets at 33, his economy rate is 6.6 which places him in the Top 10 for bowlers in the competition.
Verdict - This is a hard game to call as the Stars have plenty of players out while the Sixers have had dodgy form away from home. I think this game will be determined by the top orders of both sides and which one can really dictate terms in the batting Power Play. With plenty at stake, I expect this game to be tight and not particularly high scoring. I think both bowling attacks might be able to get on top here, with both sides a bit out of sorts with the bat. With the large square boundaries at the MCG, expect the pacemen to bowl plenty of shorter balls to try and force the batsmen into pull and hook shots.
The Lurker - "I will take the home side here in a bit of an upset despite them missing a heap of players. KP has had a couple of quiet games so back him to score 25+ into a Stars win. Also have a lash at the High bat double of Luke Wright into Nick Maddinson"