We preview game three of BBL 07 which will see the Hobart Hurricanes welcome the Melbourne Renegades to the Bellerive Oval.
We’re off to the Bellerive Oval on for Thursday’s BBL clash between the Hobart Hurricanes and the Melbourne Renegades.
With neither of the sides having managed to make a play-offs in the last three seasons, both will be looking to make a strong start to the seventh edition of the competition. Who will come out on top in Hobart? Let’s take a look:
Hurricanes vs Renegades | Thursday 21 December | Bellerive Oval, Hobart | 10:40
To Win Match
Hurricanes 23/20 | Tie 35/1 | Renegades 72/100
Hobart Hurricanes
It looks as though it could be another long, hard season for the Hobart Hurricanes. They’ve easily got the most lightweight squad in the tournament and will rely far too heavily on the wildly inconsistent Tymal Mills to win them games.
Aside from Mills, they also boast the relatively unknown Jofra Archer as their second overseas player. The 22-year-old has been capped at age group level for the West Indies as well as having played plenty of County Cricket for Sussex.
He also turned out for the Khulna Titans in the BPL where he helped himself to 10 wickets in nine matches. More importantly, he was able to return a tournament economy rate of just 6.97 – he’ll prove a massive asset to this team if he can find that sort of form coming into the Big Bash.
Running through the other prominent names on their team list, George Bailey will captain the side and will need to perform week in week out along with Dan Christian and Matthew Wade. Much of the Hurricanes’ success this season will hinge on whether or not these senior players can carry what looks like a pretty weak squad.
Melbourne Renegades
The Renegades really are the perennial underachievers of the Big Bash. They always boast an immensely talented squad but are simply unable to put together enough of a run to get themselves into the play-offs.
Will this year be different? The red half of Melbourne would hope so. They boast two of the best West Indian T20 ‘mercenaries’ out there in the form of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. Pollard hasn’t been included in the squad for tomorrow, though in order to make room for Afghan international Mohammad Nabi.
It’ll be interesting to see how well Nabi gets on. The off-spinner will look to be economical as possible and will come in as a Thisara Perera / Irfan Pathan type batsman for a bit of hit and giggle in the latter parts of the innings.
Running through the rest of the matchday squad, Aaron Finch will captain the side from the top of the order while the experience of guys like Cameron White, Kane Richardson and Chris Tremain will be vital.
Lastly, you can’t not speak about the evergreen duo of Brad Hodge and Brad Hogg who share a combined age of 88. Both legends of Australian cricket have been included in the 13-man squad for tomorrow and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them both get into the playing XI.
Verdict: Melbourne Renegades 72/100
I just don’t see this very lightweight Hurricanes side being able to get anywhere near the Renegades this Thursday in Hobart. Take the Melbourne franchise to canter to a simple enough victory at a pretty tasty 72/100.
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