Wayne Clark’s BBL Preview: Strikers vs Scorchers

Posted on February 8, 2019 | Posted by Wayne Clark

Strikers vs Scorchers (Adelaide Oval)
Saturday 9th February, 12pm WST

Who would have thought at the beginning of this series we would be seeing the Strikers (defending champions) and the Scorchers (3 x champions and regular finalists) fighting it out to see who gets the wooden spoon? Both franchises have not been consistent enough with their top-order batting.

The Strikers top-order of Carey, Wetherald, Ingram, Lehmann and Wells can destroy any attack, but at no stage this season have they combined as a unit. Wetherald (319 runs) has been very inconsistent, Lehmann (124), and both Carey (302) and Ingram (333) have only shown glimpses of their talent. The pressure therefore has been on the bowlers to perform, however too much has been expected of Rashid Khan (17 wickets) to carry the load. Nesser (11) has been steady but the others disappointing.

The Scorchers’ story is similar with the side consistently being three or four down for not many in the power-play. Ashton Turner (378 runs) and Cameron Bancroft (276) have played some great cameos, but there has been no dependability as a group. In previous seasons the talented bowling attack has been able to protect any score, unfortunately this year the task has been too great. Tye (17 wickets), Coulter-Nile (12) and Behrendorf (9 at an economy rate of 5.81) have battled hard, however the lack of spin options has proven costly.

Despite their poor form, each team has individuals who are match winners so it is difficult to assess as a betting proposition. Without a great deal of confidence, I’m selecting the Strikers on their home turf to regrettably hand the visitors their first Big Bash wooden spoon!

Tips

Winner: Strikers

Strikers Most Runs: Colin Ingram
Scorchers Most Runs: Mitch Marsh

Strikers Most Wickets: Ben Laughlin
Scorchers Most Wickets: Andrew Tye

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