Cricket betting tips: Hobart Hurricanes versus Adelaide Strikers preview and best bets

Cricket betting tips: Big Bash – Hobart Hurricanes v Adelaide Strikers

2pts Matthew Short to make a fifty at 11/4 (Ladbrokes)

2pts Ben McDermott to make a fifty at 4/1 (Coral)

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Hobart Hurricanes and Adelaide Strikers will once again lock horns at the Bellerive Oval on Thursday morning, 8:15am UK time, and a couple of likely candidates are the focus of our attention for the rematch.

I say rematch because it’s only two days since the Strikers beat the Hurricanes by five wickets in Adelaide on Tuesday, when the visitors failed to properly make use of typically favourable batting conditions in South Australia and were then unable to defend their first innings score of 165.

Adelaide is the best place to bat in Australia at the moment, but Hobart can offer very good batting conditions, too, and the Hurricanes chased down 184 with relative ease against Melbourne Renegades here earlier in the season. Then against Sydney Thunder, 151 was achieved comfortably.

Were the Hurricanes that little bit more reliable, and the Strikers better travellers, I’d be advocating some sort of runs bet for this one, probably along the lines of both teams to score 180+ runs, which Sky Bet have priced up at 7/2. That’s perfectly reasonable given the weakness in both bowling attacks.

The issue is that neither side is completely trustworthy with the bat. The Strikers have scored heavily at home, but less so on the road, while the Hurricanes were 36-5 and 66-6 on another Adelaide belter on Tuesday, before rallying to 165-7. A stunning fightback, yes, but they would have been eyeing so much more had they shown up in the first half of the innings.

As such, I’ll be focussing on two individual batsmen instead, with MATTHEW SHORT backed to continue his excellent campaign by making a fifty (11/4).

The Strikers captain and opening batsman is currently the tournament’s leading runscorer, with a staggering 396 runs from only seven innings at an average of 66.00. That includes five half-centuries in seven knocks, along with 45 from 32 balls against this opposition earlier in the week.

Short has made hay at home, but he also scored 55 in Sydney and 74 Perth to demonstrate that he is far from a one-trick pony. In fact, he looks a top-class player in the making who is in terrific form at present.

With pacer Riley Meredith an injury doubt for the hosts, Short’s task might have become even easier, so another big game from the Strikers star appears likely.

Anything in the region of 5/2 for Short to make a fifty looks fair, certainly on recent form, and the 11/4 currently available with Ladbrokes even better.

I’m keen to strike the same bet on BEN MCDERMOTT, an old favourite of mine who has been right back to his destructive best recently.

McDermott has always been the type of player to make his form count, and when he topped the runs charts in the 2021/2022 Big Bash season, he had one particularly hot streak when scoring 127 against the Renegades, 110 not out against the Strikers and 67 against Melbourne Stars in three consecutive matches.

After a slow start to this Big Bash season, McDermott's last four innings have produced 53*, 25, 16 and this week's brilliant 95*. The powerful right-hander looks to be coming to the boil nicely, and a big finish to the campaign should be in the offing.

Tuesday’s innings was an outstanding effort, made all the better by the fact he had very little support until Chris Jordan offered a helping hand late in the innings. In the circumstances, McDermott paced his innings brilliantly, absorbing early pressure and only scoring 18 from his first 20 balls, before exploding once set to finish with 95 from 61.

He scored all around the ground and the Strikers attack won’t be relishing the prospect of bowling at him again, nor can I see how they come up with a drastic and successful change in plans so quickly.

As with Short, I’m keen to back McDermott to keep up the good work, and betting him to make a fifty with Coral at 4/1 makes plenty of appeal. For those with accounts elsewhere, anything north of 5/2 is fine.

Preview published at 1310 GMT on 10/01/24

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