Opinion
Sometimes the ladder lies … and in an action-packed BBL season, sometimes power rankings are the best way to see who is most threatening among the eight franchises.
With week one of the BBL|09 tournament under wraps, let’s take a look at what the ladder doesn’t tell us after nine games this season.
1. Melbourne Stars (2-0, +1.850)
The 2-0 Stars aren’t even playing to their maximum potential yet – and they still have Dale Steyn and Nathan Coulter-Nile waiting to join.
On Friday night it was Glenn Maxwell who stood up for the Stars’ at the crease, leading them to a convincing win over the Heat, while Marcus Stoinis showed what he is capable of against the Hurricanes on Sunday.
While it’s only been a few batters finding runs, Melbourne’s deep bowling line-up has allowed the Stars to begin their season 2-0, restricting the Hurricanes’ powerful batting line-up to just 111 as well as keeping the Heat’s big-hitters quiet.
For now, they’re undefeated and look to be the team to beat even without everyone performing at their best, and when they do, the Stars’ won’t forget about their unfinished business from BBL|08.
Next match: Adelaide Strikers at Metricon Stadium, 27th December.
2. Sydney Thunder (2-1-0, +0.847)
The Sydney Thunder opened their BBL|09 campaign with two impressive wins and looked poised for victory over the Strikers; before the match was abandoned due to the worsening bushfire conditions in the nation’s capital.
The Thunder’s two wins both came on the road, with a thumping win over the Heat on Thursday quickly backed up with a final-over nail-biter against the reigning champions, the Renegades.
Sydney showed they have countless players able to win matches, with three players already scoring over 60 runs in an innings as well as a deep bowling attack doing damage every night.
With five points to their names after three games, the undefeated Thunder have set themselves up for a strong season and will be hoping to keep the good form going for the Sydney Smash on Saturday.
Next match: Sydney Sixers at the SCG, 28th December.
Alex Hales of the Thunder. (Photo by Chris Hyde – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
3. Perth Scorchers (1-1, -1.025)
After missing finals for the first time in Big Bash history last season, the Scorchers’ BBL|09 campaign started slowly with a heavy loss to the Sixers on Wednesday night.
However, with a game against the Renegades on Saturday, Perth had the opportunity to bounce back quickly and did just that.
After being bowled out for 131 in Sydney, the Scorchers piled on 196 in a win over the Renegades with fifties to both Marsh and Bancroft.
Though despite the win, Perth still conceded 185 runs, costing them any chances of fixing their net run rate and raising questions about the strength of their bowling attack, with big names such as Jhye Richardson and Ashton Agar still yet to find their groove.
However, the Scorchers remain in the top-end of the power rankings, with the bowlers eager to prove themselves on Monday night against a Strikers line-up who – at one stage on Saturday – were 2/9 after the opening two overs.
Next match: Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval, 23rd December.
4. Brisbane Heat (1-2, -0.05)
After three matches in BBL|09, it seems to be a similar story for the Brisbane Heat: if Chris Lynn doesn’t fire, then neither do Brisbane.
Lynn only managed scores of nine and six in the Heat’s two losses, but against the Sixers he narrowly missed out on the fastest BBL-century with an incredible 94 off 35 balls.
Lynn’s innings catapulted the Heat to their equal-highest BBL total of 209, with the game already won by the Sixers’ second over.
Chris Lynn is the Brisbane Heat’s marquee man. (Photo: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
The Heat managed to stay somewhat competitive against the Stars on Friday thanks to Tom Banton, though this side is a whole different beast when their captain is the one leading the charge.
With names like Banton, Lynn and Renshaw on the roster, on paper this Heat side looks as threatening as any, but, like McCullum and Lynn in seasons beforehand, inconsistency remains Brisbane’s biggest weakness.
A long break over Christmas can allow the Heat to regroup, and more importantly Lynn to fix any injury concerns, with Brisbane poised to come out firing in 2020.
Next match: Perth Scorchers at Metricon Stadium, 1st January
5. Melbourne Renegades (0-2, -0.402)
The reigning champions are off to the second worst start by a defending champion in Big Bash history, but despite their 0-2 record, their net run rate of -0.402 shows that they’ve still been in the contest.
The ‘Gades should have beaten the Thunder on Thursday night, with costly misfields and dropped catches at the death allowing Sydney to snatch a win in the final over.
Melbourne also fell an agonising 11 runs short of Perth’s impressive 196-run target, with the Renegades’ 185 run total the third-highest score by any side this week.
New coach Michael Klinger remains confident his side can turn it around, and although they currently sit last with an 0-2 record, the Renegades have managed to remain competitive even when not playing at their best.
Due to their competitiveness, they find themselves fifth in the power rankings as their worst form is still just as competitive as some other sides’ best.
Besides, you can never write off the reigning champions.
Next match: Hobart Hurricanes at Blundstone Arena, 24th December
6. Hobart Hurricanes (1-1, -0.675)
Last year’s minor premiers snatched a win over the Sixers with an unbelievable bowling performance, but then the script was flipped in Moe as the Stars quickly dismantled their power-hitters on Sunday.
Desperately missing Matthew Wade, if the BBL|08 MVP in D’Arcy Short doesn’t fire, the ‘Canes don’t seem to have any other ways of finding runs.
Their strong bowling attack, featuring the likes of T20 World Cup-bolter Riley Meredith and Qais Ahmed, hid the fact they only managed 129 in their win over Sydney, while nothing was kept secret in their 52-run defeat to the Stars.
The Hurricanes will return home for a Christmas Eve clash against the reigning champions, desperately needing to fix their batting woes before it becomes too late.
Next match: Melbourne Renegades at Blundstone Arena, 24th December
7. Sydney Sixers (1-2, -0.508)
The Sixers held their opponents to scores of just 131 and 129 throughout the first two matches, but then they found themselves dealing with a dose of Lynnsanity on Sunday night.
Sydney started BBL|09 with an unexpected thrashing over the Scorchers, but all momentum stopped after an embarrassing collapse against the Hurricanes on Friday followed by a 48-run loss to the Heat.
Sydney’s bowling attack, which looked so dominant after two games, was quickly exploited by a Lynn and Renshaw masterclass on Sunday, with star-import Tom Curran going from game-changing figures of 3/32 and 2/30 to an expensive 0/53.
Tom Curran of the Sixers. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Perhaps the loss to Brisbane was an outlier for the Sixers, there isn’t much you can do once Chris Lynn is in that world-famous mindset, but with their next match being in Perth, the collapse against the Hurricanes could seriously hurt their chances of a strong start to BBL|09.
With Hobart’s Qais Ahmed singlehandedly killing any momentum the Sixers once had, as well as the Heat cancelling any praise Sydney’s bowling attack were once receiving, it sees the 1-2 Sixers slide toward the bottom of the rankings, even below the winless Renegades.
Next match: Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium, 26th December
8. Adelaide Strikers (0-1-0, +0.000)
The Strikers only match in the first week of BBL|09 was called off 4.2 overs into the Thunder’s innings – after umpires deemed the bushfire-affected conditions too hazardous to continue.
Adelaide still managed to bat their full twenty overs and after a trademark slow start – including a wicket maiden – the ever-reliable likes of Weatherald, Carey and Wells helped the Strikers scrape to a respectable 161.
Though it was only four overs of bowling to work with, the Strikers allowed the threatening Thunder to race to 1/40 after 4.2 overs and would be happy to leave Canberra splitting the points.
On Monday night, Adelaide will hopefully get a full 40 overs under their belts against the Scorchers, showing the league, and this power rankings list, a little bit more of what they’re capable of.
Next match: Perth Scorchers at Adelaide Oval, 23rd December
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