The Renegades return home to Marvel Stadium hunting their first victory of KFC BBL|13
All you need to know: Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers
What: Match 18, BBL|13
Where: Marvel Stadium, Melbourne
When: Friday, December 29. Bat flip at 6.30pm local (AEDT), first ball at 7.15pm local (AEDT)
How to watch: Channel Seven, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps
Officials: Gerard Abood (field), Bruce Oxenford (field), Donovan Koch (third), Lisa McCabe (fourth), Bob Stratford (match referee)
Match squads
Renegades: Nic Maddinson (c), Will Sutherland (vc), Joe Clarke (England), Quinton de Kock (South Africa), Harry Dixon, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Ruwantha Kellapotha, Shaun Marsh, Fergus O'Neill, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jon Wells, Adam Zampa
Strikers: Matthew Short (c), Wes Agar, James Bazley, Cameron Boyce, Brendan Doggett, Adam Hose (England), Chris Lynn, Ben Manenti, Harry Nielsen (wk), Jamie Overton (England), David Payne (England), D'Arcy Short, Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald
Form guide
Renegades: LLLLW
Sitting last on the table with four losses and a no-result from five games, the Renegades continue to struggle in KFC BBL|13 despite boasting a squad with significant experience. Nic Maddinson's side gave a good account of themselves last time out, pushing the Scorchers on Boxing Day, but were outclassed. They now find themselves in desperate need of their first win of the season.
Strikers: LWLLL
The Strikers missed a big chance to upset the Sixers on home soil last Friday, going down by one run in an SCG thriller. This, combined with a washed-out home fixture to kick off their campaign has meant, with a bit of luck, they could be sitting in a better position. Nevertheless, victory here keeps the Strikers inside the top four.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Players to watch
Shaun Marsh made a sparkling return to action on Tuesday night, scoring 59 off 36 balls in his home town of Perth, and will again be crucial in this clash. The 40-year-old injured both of his calves in the last five months, and admitted post-match to having significant nerves before the game. Marsh said the knock gave him confidence that he still belongs at the level, and if the Renegades are to arrest their slump the veteran will likely be central to that. Aaron Finch re-joins the Renegades squad after missing the last match through back soreness.
Last summer's player of the season Matt Short has picked up where he left off, crunching 82 and 55 in his first two knocks of BBL|13. The Strikers skipper has already declared he wants a spot in Australia's T20 World Cup squad next year, and he's playing like a man on a mission.
Big English allrounder Jamie Overton has also started the Big Bash season with a bang, taking five wickets in his opening two T20 matches down under, with all five scalps top six batters. The Strikers have made one addition to their 14-player squad with fast bowler Henry Thornton included after missing their trip to Sydney.
Head-to-head
Overall: Renegades (7 wins), Strikers (11 wins)
At Marvel Stadium: Renegades (3 wins), Strikers (4 wins)
Most runs: Jake Weatherald (306), Travis Head (262), Jon Wells (261), Alex Carey (225), Sam Harper (224)
Most wickets: Kane Richardson (23), Rashid Khan (16), Peter Siddle (15), Wes Agar 12), Ben Laughlin (9)
The venue
Rapid stats
- Adelaide Strikers have never beaten Melbourne Renegades batting second with their 11 head-to-head victories all coming setting a target. The closest they've come to chasing down a total against the Renegades was the first match of BBL|11 when they fell two runs short of their 9-153 as Daniel Drew could only manage a two from the final.
- Adelaide Strikers have won only one of their last seven BBL matches – a six-wicket victory against the Sydney Thunder on December 22.
- Chris Lynn (3472) is 28 away from becoming the first batter to score 3500 BBL runs. Lynn is also four sixes away from becoming the first player to register 200 sixes in the Big Bash. The next closest is the Renegades Aaron Finch on 118 sixes.
- Matt Short (9) is one away from equalling Jon Wells (10) for the third most scores of 50-plus for the Adelaide Strikers in BBL history. He has scored a half-century in each of his two innings in BBL13 (82 and 55).
- Kane Richardson (96) is four away from becoming the first player to take 100 wickets for the Melbourne Renegades in BBL history. His bowling strike rate against the Strikers (14.3) is his second best against any team in his BBL career (12 v Melbourne Renegades while playing for the Strikers).
- If selected in the final XI, Renegades seamer Peter Siddle (96) is four away from becoming the 10th bowler to take 100 BBL wickets.
What's on the line?
Defeat for the Renegades would almost certainly spell the end of their bid for a finals berth, with Marsh admitting after the loss in Perth that their "margin for error now is very, very small". For the Strikers, too, the match looms as crucial. A loss at Marvel Stadium would leave them with just one win in four games and relying on a strong back-end of the tournament.
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