The Hurricanes kick off their BBL 14 season with a trip to Geelong to face the 0-1 Renegades.
Head to Head
It’s surprising to see the Renegades as outsiders here following a solid outing against the Sixers on Monday.
We’ve predicted the red team to be big improvers in our BBL14 season preview, thanks to an aggressive off-field recruiting spree, and their loaded top six will get even stronger on Thursday with young English Test no. 3 Jacob Bethell set to join the XI.
The Hurricanes have returned with largely the same squad that finished fifth last year, outside of West Indian gun Shai Hope. They look particularly thin on the spin front, so their bowling could be exposed on the typically slow Geelong deck.
The Renegades look the stronger squad here, and with a game under their belt we’ll give them the edge.
It’s worth noting, however, that the team batting second has won every game so far this season so it may be worth waiting for the toss before investing.
Best Best
This is a generous line for the English young gun, who dominated the NZ Test series with three 50+ scores in six innings and no scores below 10. The Poms, of course, play high octane Bazball cricket so there won’t be any adjustment needed for Bethell to slot back into the shortest format.
Value Bet
We’ll back Evans to bounce back from an ordinary first up performance. His only knock at this venue was a 69 and he has a 40 in his two innings against the Hurricanes.
Same Game Multi
Renegades H2H / Bethell & Evans 20+ Runs / Zampa 1+ Wicket
