Geelong Cricket Ground, Geelong, Australia
Melbourne Renegades
Sydney Thunder
Melbourne Renegades
Sydney Thunder
Defending champions Melbourne Renegades look to kick off their campaign against a weaker Sydney Thunder!
Melbourne Renegades to win the match!
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BBL season 2019 has begun on 17th December 2019. The tournament will go on till February next year and the grand finale will be played on 8th February 2020. The tournament is played among the 8 teams. Each team plays the other team twice in the league stage of which the top 4 teams make it to the playoffs.
Defending champions Melbourne Renegades will take on Sydney Thunder in the 3rd game of the tournament on the 19th of December at Geelong.
The Renegades finished at the second spot after the league stage in the last season and went on to win the championship. On the other hand, Thunders were 6th in the table despite just 3 points separating them. Melbourne Renegades have a far superior head-to-head record against the Thunders.
However, the Thunder have started the season with a comprehensive win against Brisbane Heat in the opening encounter of BBL 2019. They would want to use the momentum to go past Melbourne Renegades this time.
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The defending champions Melbourne Renegades are among the most consistent teams of the Big Bash League over the years. Last year as well they won 8 of the 14 matches played in the league stage before nailing the semi-final and then the grand finale of BBL. Melbourne Renegades will be up against Sydney Thunders against who they have won all but one match across the history of BBL.
Melbourne Renegades faced Melbourne Stars in the finals of BBL 2018 and managed to score just 145 in the 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets.
They just could not get going on a sluggish pitch at Docklands. The championship looked beyond Renegades when the Stars were 93 without loss in the 13th over. Then came the big twist. The Renegades took 7 wickets for 25 runs in the next 5 overs and eventually won the final comfortably by 13 runs.
Kane Richardson with 24 wickets was the highest wicket taker of BBL 2018 for the Renegades whereas Sam Harper with 341 runs was among their top batsmen. Harper was 13th in the overall list of batsmen which suggests how good Renegades bowling is that got them the Cup. Captain Aron Finch would be keen to start the campaign on winning note against a team that they have the best record against.
Key Players: Aron Finch, Kane Richardson, Daniel Christian.
Aaron Finch, Sam Harper, TLW Cooper, JD Wildermuth, Shaun Marsh, KW Richardson, Harry Gurney, Cameron Boyce, Richard Gleeson, BJ Webster, DT Christian
Sydney Thunder is among the weakest teams across the BBL. With the exception of Melbourne Stars, the Thunders have lost more matches against all the other BBL teams than they have won. Last year they stood 6th in the points table and thus could not make it to the playoffs.
Sydney Thunder have locked Chris Green for the next six seasons in the longest deal in BBL history and have given Callum Ferguson the opportunity to lead the side in place of retired Shane Watson. Ferguson reaped immediate rewards as he single-handedly won his team the opening game on BBL 2019. He stunned Brisbane Heat in the opening encounter with 73 of just 44 deliveries helping Thunders put 172 on the board. The Thunders then restricted Brisbane Heat to just 143.
Callum Ferguson was Thunders’ top scorer in the last season with 442 runs while Usman Khawaja (SR: 171) had the best strike rate. While their batting looks good, bowling has usually let them down. Daniel Sams with 15 wickets was their best bowler (13th Overall) last season.
Key Players - Callum Ferguson, Usman Khawaja, Chris Green.
Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson, CP Tremain, Daniel Sams, Jonathan Cook, Arjun Nair, Christopher Green, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Gilkes, Alex Ross, Nathan John McAndrew
On the match day, the weather at Geelong is expected to be partly sunny and cooler with no chance of rain. A perfect day to play the game of cricket. Daytime temperature can reach 23°c while nighttime minimum temperature is expected to be around 12°c.
The venue for the match is Simonds Stadium, South Geelong, Victoria. Only one international match has been played at this venue in 2017 between Australia and Sri Lanka. The match was won by Sri Lanka. In the only BBL encounter that happened here, Brisbane Heat beat Renegades by 101 runs.
This venue is not a regular venue in Big Bash or otherwise. Brisbane Heat have scored 192 at this venue and then restricted Renegades 101 runs short. While Sri Lanka have successfully chased 173 here. In such uncertain conditions, it is better to Bowl first after winning the toss to understand the conditions better and capitalize on that while chasing.
This encounter between Renegades and Thunder is the case of one of the most consistent teams pitted against the most inconsistent one. The defending champions Renegades look all set to improve their already magnificent record against the Thunder. However, this new look Thunder under a new captain with already a win under their belt isn’t going to be a walkover either.
We predict defending champions Melbourne Renegades to win their opening encounter of the season against Sydney Thunders.
Melbourne Renegades to win the match!
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