Roar Guru
The Melbourne Stars will look to clock up a second straight win in this year’s Big Bash League when they host the Sydney Sixers at the MCG. Join The Roar for live scores and blog from 7:40pm (AEDT).
Both teams are in a similar situation: the Stars are 1-5 – their only win coming from the latest Melbourne Derby, against the Renegades, while the Sixers are 1-6, a derby win against the Thunder their only success so far.
While the Stars have lost Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa to the Aussie ODI team, they have retain´d Peter Hanscomb and James Faulkner.
Handscomb is coming off a 41 against red Melbourne, while Faulkner has scored a 47 and a 34 in a season with limited opportunities for the all-rounder.
The Sixers on the other hand are a very different side to what they were in the early games,
The welcome addition of Nathon Lyon and Jackson Bird from the Test team brings a top-quality spinner and some more experience into the bowling attack.
At the same time, Carlos Brathwaite and Joe Denly join the side to bolster the batting. Against the Thunder, Denly scored 43 off 29 to show what a danger he can be to spin-heavy bowling attacks.
Also look for Glenn Maxwell to continue his good run of form with the bat, having scored 50, 33, 60 and 31* in his last four BBL appearances.
The key player for the Sixers may be Jordan Silk. The 25-year-old wasn’t able to break into the matchday XI for the Sydney team’s two opening games, but has recorded scores of 50, 45*, 16 and 45 since.
Prediction
All of a sudden the Sixers have batting depth and should out-bat the Stars to record a second win.
Join The Roar for all the action from 7:40pm (AEDT).