Richard Mann was bang on the money with his take on Friday's Big Bash game - don't miss his take on Saturday's showdown between Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers.
Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Sixers (Dec 29)
Despite the continued absence of Aaron Finch due to international duty, the Melbourne Renegades have started to the Big Bash season with a couple of wins and their most recent defeat of reigning champions the Adelaide Strikers was a particularly noteworthy display.
The Renegades looked in big trouble when slumping to 82-5 in reply to the Strikers' 174 but new signing Dan Christian combined with Mohammad Nabi to take Melbourne to victory without any further casualties.
They should have gleaned plenty of confidence from that performance and now face a Sydney Sixers side who were poor against the Melbourne Stars on Thursday and need to start firing with the bat.
8/11 for the Renegades to maintain their unbeaten record looks about right, however, with the Sixers clearly capable of springing a surprise if the likes of Joe Denly and Moises Henriques can find some form.
Hobart Hurricanes v Sydney Thunder (Dec 28)
Friday's Big Bash offering sees two of the early runners for the title clash in Tasmania and quotes of 11/10 about the hosts look very appealing.
Hobart Hurricanes enjoyed a brilliant campaign last season, coming back from the dead on a number of occasions to reach the final before eventually losing out to the Adelaide Strikers.
Overseas star Jofra Archer proved the ace in the pace for the Hurricanes, enjoying a fine campaign with his slippery pace and excellent control, while the likes of D'Arcy Short and Ben McDermott provided the backbone to a strong batting line-up.
Led by the astute George Bailey, the Hurricanes have been excellent in winning their opening two games of this campaign and with new recruit Johan Botha already impressing with his off-spin, the boys in purple really do appear to have most bases covered.
Given they can rely on home advantage for their meeting with the Sydney Thunder, they should have the edge and must be backed at 11/10.
The Thunder have also won their first two games this season, Jos Buttler finding his touch with a breathtaking 63 from 37 balls in the recent defeat of the Sydney Sixers and leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed picking up four wickets.
After a few quiet years in this competition, the Thunder certainly look to be building something very good with the likes of Shane Watson, Callum Ferguson and Joe Root helping form a strong top order.
However, the Hurricanes are a proven, high-class T20 outfit and this will be the acid test for the visitors who might just find these waters too deep to navigate at this stage of their development.
Posted at 1900 GMT on 27/12/18
