Deadline: January 10, 2020 at 1:40 PM IST
Venue: Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Pitch report
The average first and second innings scores at the Docklands Stadium read 154 and 146 respectively. 10 of 24 wickets that fell belonged to the spinners. Expect another even battle between the batsmen and bowlers.
Probable XIs
Renegades: Marcus Haris, Sam Harper (wk), Shaun Marsh, Alex Doolan, Beau Webster, Daniel Christian, Samit Patel, Will Sutherland, Cameron Boyce, Andrew Fekete/Tom Andrews, Richard Gleeson
Stars: Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Ben Dunk (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Hilton Cartwright, Clint Hinchliffe, Daniel Worrall, Haris Rauf, Sandeep Lamichhane
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely.
Match prediction
The Renegades will be without the services of captain Aaron Finch and Kane Richardson, their highest wicket-taker of the season. The duo will be in India for a three-ODI series for the next two weeks. However, their absence cannot worsen their position in the points table: they are already at the bottom with no victory in seven matches. The defending champions had the best team on paper, but neither their form improved nor their fortune changed.
The Stars, on the other hand, are shining brightly at the top with 6 wins in 7 matches. From their squad, Peter Handscomb and Adam Zampa will be unavailable. That being said, they are lucky that their in-form players Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell weren’t picked for the national duty.
Players to watch out for
Neither Aaron Finch nor Shaun Marsh has scored the bulk of the runs for the Renegades. With 236 runs at 78.6, Beau Webster has been in a top-notch form. He has remained unbeaten in 4 of 7 matches. All this at a stunning strike rate of 142.
Shaun Marsh has done reasonably well to hold one end up. He has four scores in excess of 40 runs in 7 matches.
Daniel Christian, who was the top performer for the Renegades in the previous, has not provided much impetus. He has managed a mere 81 runs and gone wicketless. However, despite his failure, fantasy players have not dared to leave him out of their teams.
Sam Harper went all guns blazing against the Scorchers in their previous match. He smashed 73 off 46 including 7 fours and 3 sixes. With Finch unavailable, the onus of laying a foundation at the top will be on him.
Marcus Stoinis is the highest run-scorer of the season. He has scored 331 runs with a strike rate of 121, including 4 half-centuries. He has been the safest bet to pick. His task is bat through and hold the innings together, in the process giving more points to the fantasy players.
Glenn Maxwell, in true sense of the idiom, has been leading from the front. He has accumulated 228 runs and pocked 4 wickets – 2 of which are of Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja.
Haris Rauf‘s bowling figures this season read 2/20, 5/27, 3/24, 3/23. Need we say more?
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