Adelaide Strikers v Perth Scorchers BBL Tips, Predictions and Preview

Gary Emmerson:

A tactical victory for Perth Scorchers gave them a first win of BBL09 on Saturday and they travel to Adelaide Oval next up to face the Adelaide Strikers on Monday.

The Strikers started with a ‘no result’ against the Sydney Thunder at Canberra after smoke from the bushfires brought the game to an early conclusion.

While the Scorchers have impressed in all areas and will look to continue the same form, the Strikers have a lot to ponder considering they were the luckier side to earn a ‘no result’ point.

Adelaide Strikers

A sparkling 55* off just 32 balls (5×4 2×6) from Jonathan Wells helped the Strikers reach 161 for 5 at Canberra. There were useful 40s from Jake Weatherald and captain Alex Carey. They couldn’t, however, stop the Thunder from a thunderous start. At 40 for 1 after 4.2 overs and way ahead of the DLS calculations, the Thunder looked on its way to winning the game before poor display conditions stopped the game.

There wasn’t enough time for the Strikers to show their bowling mettle, but Billy Stanlake looked sharp. There is nothing to overly worry about, as they look to kickstart their home campaign. However, this is a venue where they have been alternating wins and losses recently.

Perth Scorchers

It was a masterly captain’s performance from Mitchell Marsh (56 off 22, 1×4 6×6) that gave Scorchers an 11-run win over Melbourne Renegades. Marsh was good with his tactical acumen too, as Cameron Bancroft (51 off 37) and Fawad Ahmed (2 for 22) had impressive performances as well.

Scorchers do not have an impressive recent record travelling to Adelaide and they will be wary of that. However, with the side starting well, there is hope that they can put the problems of last season out of their mind.

Match Up

The Scorchers have looked sharp in all three areas, and will be confident of their chances. However, their recent record at the Adelaide Oval is poor which gives the Strikers a get a first win of the campaign. Last season, these two sides were in the bottom three of the average powerplay scores and that could prove to be an interesting stat.

History & Statistics

  • Strikers have won three of their last five matches against Scorchers at the Adelaide Oval.
  • Strikers have won their last home match, but haven’t won twice in a row at this venue since January 2018.
  • Scorchers have won four of their last five matches against Strikers.
  • Scorchers have won three of four H2Hs they were chasing, which is in line with their overall BBL record while chasing: 26-13.
  • Five of the last six H2Hs have been won by the designated home team.
  • The last four H2Hs have been won by the chasing team.

Key Players

Rashid Khan has six wickets in just four matches against Scorchers, at a miserly ER of 4.12.

Scorchers’ Cameron Bancroft had a difficult start to the summer, but a score of 51 in the last match gave him a good start to the BBL season.

Tips