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[VIDEO] Sydney Sixers vs Perth Scorchers: Big Bash League scores, highlights, blog

29th December, 2014
SQUAD
PERTH SCORCHERS (13-MAN SQUAD)
Adam Voges (c), Ashton Agar, Yasir Arafat, Jason Behrendorff, Michael Carberry, Hilton Cartwright, Marcus Harris, Michael Klinger, Simon Mackin, James Muirhead, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman.

SYDNEY SIXERS (13 MAN SQUAD)
Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Doug Bollinger, Ryan Carters, Ed Cowan, Luke Doran, Simon Keen, Brett Lee, Michael Lumb, Nic Maddinson, Jordan Silk, Mitchell Starc, Riki Wessels

Time: 7:10pm AEDT
Venue: SCG
TV: Network Ten
Betting: Sydney 1.7 Perth 2.15
Brad Hogg was one of Australia's last Test Chinamen. (AAP Image/Lincoln Baker).
Roar Guru
29th December, 2014
153
2832 Reads

The Sydney Sixers will be looking to continue their unbeaten start to the Big Bash League when they take on the Perth Scorchers at the SCG tonight.

Join The Roar for live scores of the match between the Sixers and Scorchers from 7:10pm AEDT.

After beating the Thunder, in the Sydney Smash on Saturday night, the Sixers are now at the top of the ladder with three wins from three matches. Tonight they will be looking to make it four wins over the Scorchers. If they can do that they will almost certainly book their spot in the finals series.

In the history of the Big Bash League no team has missed the finals after winning the first four matches of the season.

In 2011/12 it was the Hurricanes who won four matches in a row to start the season and finish second after the round robin matches.

In the next season, the Renegades would win their opening four games of the season, as they finished top after the regular season.

Last year it was the Stars who won the opening four games of the year as they went through the round robin tournament with eight straight wins.

While it may be good to make the finals with four straight wins, this feat has also been a curse to those teams in the last three years.

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On each occasion – when a team has made the finals with four straight – the team involved has lost in the semi-final.

Tonight’s match will also be a replay of the semi-final last year between the two teams at the SCG.

On that night the Scorchers won a rain affected match to win by five runs. It promises to be a cracking match between two teams who are in great form in the competition.

While the Sixers feats have already been mentioned, the Scorchers have also started the season well.

After losing in a narrow contest to the Strikers, in the first game of the season, the Scorchers bounced back well with a big win over the Renegades on Boxing Day.

They will be confident of pulling off the upset tonight against the Sixers. If recent history is anything to go by, expect this match to be a close one.

In the other match between the two teams last year, it went to a super over, with the Scorchers winning through a great over from Yasir Arafat.

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These two teams also played in the first Big Bash final in 2012 with the Sixers winning by seven wickets.
Overall the Scorchers lead the head to head with three wins and two losses.

The Sixers – after losing three straight matches – haven’t defeated the Scorchers since 2012 when they won the inaugural Big Bash league.

For the match the Sixers have made just one change with Ed Cowan included in the 13 man squad. Ben Dwarshuis, who played in the opening match of the season, is out of the team.

Perth remains unchanged from the team that defeated the Renegades on Boxing Day. Brad Hogg did travel with the team to Sydney but isn’t expected to play with his hamstring injury.

Both teams have strong bowling line-ups which can create nightmares for the opposition.

For the Sixers they have Mitchell Starc, Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger, Sean Abbott and Moises Henriques in the fast bowling department. Luke Doran, who bowls spin, compliments the five fast bowlers.

Against the Thunder, all six players got a run, as they were able to stop the strong batting line-up of their opposition.

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Perth will have a challenge to score runs against this bowling line-up.

Leading the charge for Perth is Jason Behrendorff who is the number one bowler in the league so far this season.
He has the most wickets on average in the competition and also has the best average and economy in the league after two matches.

The other bowlers in the line-up, including Yasir Arafat, Ashton Agar, and James Muirhead, have complimented Behrendorff nicely in the first two matches.

Both teams in their opening matches of the competition have restricted the opposition to less than 165 runs. I expect similar scores tonight.

Whichever bowling line-up can get on top will be the team that will win the game.

If they don’t then the batsmen will have their day.

For the Scorchers, Michael Klinger has been the standout with 154 runs in the first two matches of the season. For the Sixers, Nic Maddinson has been the star with 125 runs in his three matches.

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Both players, who play at the top of the order, will be pivotal as they try to score enough runs to win the game.

This is a tough match to pick. It will be close and both teams can win with the squad they have.

Recent form has all been with the Scorchers so I will lean towards them to take the win in an enthralling contest.

PREDICTION – Perth Scorchers.

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