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The 2017-18 Big Bash League has just ten matches left and when the Adelaide Strikers host the Hobart Hurricanes, finals implications will be enormous. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:40pm (AEDT).
All the teams now have only two or three games remaining in their season, but the race for the top four is still anything but certain.
While the Perth Scorchers have booked their spot at the top, the Strikers and Hurricanes currently sit in second and third place, just one win off the pace.
The winner of this match all but confirms their finals spot, but it’ll be panic stations for the loser, particularly if the Hurricanes leave Adelaide without two points.
The Hurricanes’ net run rate is the worst of the top five sides, all of whom are in contention for the finals, and a loss here leaves them just two points ahead of both the Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat.
Adelaide, with a better net run rate, will be under less pressure, but the loser will need victories in their final games of the season. The winner, meanwhile, can push for a home semi-final.
The Strikers, who lost to the Hurricanes four games ago, were showing plenty of solid form after picking reasonably easy wins over the Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars, but they were brought crashing back to earth last time out against the Scorchers.
While Alex Carey and Colin Ingram played vital roles with the bat in their previous two games, the side was knocked over for just 112 against the best bowling attack in the competition.
Carey has been superb throughout the season, cracking 268 runs in his seven innings, but it’s Rashid Khan who has the Strikers at the top. The Afghan spinner has 12 wickets at just 11.67 with an economy rate of five.
He has been impossible to get away, but could meet his match in Hurricanes opening batsman D’Arcy Short. He has 465 runs including three half-centuries, a century and a strike rate of 153.
He has top-scored for the Hurricanes in each of their last four games and so it comes as little surprise they have won four straight, propelling them to the top of the ladder.
Wins over Adelaide, the Sixers and two wins over Brisbane shows exactly what sort of form they are in, with the side cracking at least 165 in all of those games. If Adelaide can’t find a way to put the brakes on, then it could be a similarly high-scoring game at a ground where runs are often easier to come by.
Prediction
At home, Adelaide will repay the Hurricanes for their loss the last time the teams met and pick up a hard-fought victory.
Adelaide in a close one.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this BBL match from 7:40pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.