The Hobart Hurricanes look a genuine contender in BBL|12 and they get a good opportunity to begin their season with a victory over the Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
Best Bet
The Hurricanes are one of the BBL’s strongest squads on paper and should be far too good for a Stars team who are in strife after just one game.
The men in purple already had a formidable, largely homegrown, line-up, led by Matthew Wade, D’Arcy Short and Ben McDermott, but have now added gun leg-spinning all-rounder Shadab Khan, his Pakistani teammate Asif Ali, experienced quick Billy Stanlake, Kiwi Jimmy Neesham and English opener Zak Crawley. It’s one of the deepest lists ever seen in the BBL and one that should be contending for a maiden title this year.
The Stars look like they could unravel quickly this season. Their last-ball loss to the Thunder has come at a cost with Joe Burns suffering a hamstring injury, while Marcus Stoinis battled to get on the park with Covid. This isn’t a squad with the depth to cover too many injuries, particularly on the batting side, with Glenn Maxwell already missing.
The Stars have lost 10 of their last 11 as underdogs and look completely outclassed here.
Next Best
Keen to back the Hurricanes any which way here.
There’s no numbers to back this bet up other than the talent disparity in each of the top orders.
Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade are just better, more experienced, cricketers than Joe Clarke, Tom Rogers and whoever replaces Joe Burns at three for the Stars, likely to be Nick Larkin.
Short of some Trent Boult brilliance, it’s hard to see the Stars outscoring the ‘Canes early in the innings.
Value Bet
Shadab Khan should be clear favourite in this market given his ability to win the game with bat or ball.
The all-rounder was a key reason Pakistan reached the T20 World Cup final, taking 11 wickets in seven innings at just 6.35 an over to go with his 98 runs (at a strike rate of 170, no less) down the order.
Khan is one of the world’s best T20 cricketers and a sensational bet at this price.
Same Game Multi
Hurricanes H2H / Hurricanes Highest First Six Overs / S.Khan 2+ wickets / A.Zampa 1+ wicket