Two more matches feature in the Big Bash on Saturday morning, and Richard Mann has a trio of wagers to consider.
Cricket betting tips: Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat
1pt No fifty in the match at 4/1 (General)
1pt Will Sutherland top Melbourne Renegades batsman at 12/1 (Sky Bet)
1pt Michael Neser top Brisbane Heat batsman at 15/1 (BetVictor)
The Big Bash season is finally reaching its climax, and we have another double-header in store on Saturday.
First up is Melbourne Renegades against Brisbane Heat at the Docklands Stadium, the action due to get under way at 6:00am, UK time.
The Heat will still be smarting having failed to defend 202 at home to Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday, though the Hurricanes pulled off a similar late run chase against the Renegades earlier in the week.
The Renegades currently sit bottom of the league table, though the Heat haven’t faired much better. In fact, both sides are only 3-9 so far this term.
Things could get worse for the Heat who will now be without the services of Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Kuhnemann as they head off to Sri Lanka to prepare for Australia’s upcoming Test series.
Batting line-ups weakened
That is a serious drain on the Heat’s batting recourses in particular, while the Renegades have really struggled in that department, too, so are sure to miss Jacob Bethell after he signed off for the season with 87 against the Hurricanes.
There really hasn’t been too much to cheer about from the Renegades batting line-up all season, with the likes of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Josh Brown failing to live up to expectations.
Part of that has been down to the pitch at the Docklands which, in truth, has been substandard for any cricket, particularly franchise T20 cricket.
We’ve had three games played at this venue so far this season, and 165 from Melbourne Stars is comfortably the highest total scored, that in the main down to Glenn Maxwell whose 90 (52 balls) was a remarkable piece of batting with the tail.
At one stage, the Stars were 75-5 and the Renegades only managed 123 in reply.
I’d expect another low-scoring contest here, especially with both batting units missing key players and the bowling on each side stacking up pretty well.
As such, I’m happy to back NO FIFTY IN THE MATCH at 4/1.
What are the best top batsman bets?
On a similar theme, I want to chance a couple at big prices in the top batsman markets, with the suspicion that the middle order might find things easier, and that a big priced winner could be on the cards in such a scenario.
Renegades captain WILL SUTHERLAND looks pretty solid at 12/1 (Sky Bet), given his season average of 29.66 puts him ahead of his batting colleagues to have played more than a couple of games.
His 70 against Perth Scorchers recently was a brilliant hand, and he should he finish the season batting in the top six.
With that top order struggling, Sutherland looks worth support at the current odds.
For the Heat, MICHAEL NESER is the obvious one of the bigger-priced runners in the middle order.
Neser can really bat and he blasted an unbeaten 64 from only 30 balls to win this market against the Scorchers last term, producing the type of late flourish that always makes him a threat in the Power Surge.
He didn’t feature in the early part of this season due to injury, but was actually promoted to open the batting against Adelaide Strikers when making a quickfire 18.
He won’t be opening here, but a spot in the top seven might prove ideal, and the type of rapid cameo that his batting has become renowned for could see him win this market at a decent price.
Scorchers host Strikers
At 9:15am, UK time, Perth Scorchers host Adelaide Strikers, and conditions are expected to be much better for batting.
As is always the case in Perth, batting against the new ball has been a challenge, but this is essentially a good track and we have seen some strong finishes throughout.
Once the giants of the Big Bash, the Scorchers really do look a shadow of their former self nowadays and have lost six of their nine games this term.
Jhye Richardson will miss the rest of the season as he undergoes yet another bout of surgery, and Mitch Marsh has now delayed his return to competitive cricket.
True to form, middle-order master Ashton Turner finally won the top Scorchers batsman market against Sydney Sixers last weekend, but he looks short enough now for one batting down at number five.
With injury doubts about a few in the Strikers top six, it’s hard to be too confident about anything there, though Alex Ross does take the eye at 9/1 on the back of scores of 47, 44 not out and 48 in his last three innings.
Posted at 1150 GMT on 17/01/25
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