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The Melbourne Stars will be desperate for a win when they take on the Melbourne Renegades in the derby tonight at the MCG. Here is my full preview and The Prophet’s pick.
Melbourne Stars (0-3) vs Melbourne Renegades (3-1) at The MCG
Head-to-head: Melbourne Stars 8, Melbourne Renegades 3
Last five: Melbourne Stars 4, Melbourne Renegades 1Melbourne Stars 13-man squad
John Hastings (c), Michael Beer, Scott Boland, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall, Luke Wright (Eng), Adam ZampaMelbourne Renegades 13-man squad
Aaron Finch (C), Dwayne Bravo (WI), Tom Cooper, Marcus Harris, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Jon Holland, Tim Ludeman+, Mohammad Nabi, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Cameron White, Jack Wildermuth
The Stars are very much in danger of being cast adrift and missing out on the finals for the first time in seven years should they crash to a fourth straight loss to open BBL7.
It’s been much smoother sailing for the Renegades who have marched to a 3-1 start with each of those three wins being in comfortable fashion against the Hurricanes, Heat and Sixers.
Big batting battle – Aaron Finch vs Luke Wright
I have opted for two vastly experienced and high quality opening batsmen here who have struggled in BBL7 to date.
Finch returned to form with a bang in his last game against the hapless Sixers, belting 51 after racking up three single-figure scores to open the tournament.
Luke Wright has looked out of sorts, like most of the Stars big name batting line-up, however often saves his best for the Renegades having scored 100 against them in BBL5.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Big bowling battle – Adam Zampa vs Brad Hogg
I have gone for the young bull against the old bull here with a coupe of wrist spinners in Zampa for the Stars and Hogg for the Renegades. Leg spin can play a big role at the MCG as we saw from the dominant performances from Mitchell Swepson and Yasir Shah for the Heat in the Stars’ last game. Zampa will be looking to prove why he is considered Australia’s premier white ball spin option at the moment, whilst Hogg will enjoy the big stage of trying to get one over his younger counterpart.
Ground Dynamic – The MCG
The MCG curator produced a really good wicket for the Stars’ home opener against the Heat, only to the see the Stars batting line-up fumble and stumble their way to just 147.
If this wicket is anything like the one produced on Tuesday, the team batting first will want 170 plus to feel they are ahead of the game.
The straight boundaries are shorter at the MCG, so expect both the seamers and spinners to bowl into the wicket more and try and protect the longer square boundaries.
The Prophet’s Pick (10-8) – Melbourne Stars
“The Stars are too good a side to lose four straight – I hope.”
The Prophet’s 10-unit bank (Running Tally = -58 Units)
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