Get all the latest team news and broadcast details as the Strikers host the Stars in their first home game of BBL|15
Adelaide Strikers v Melbourne Stars: match preview
Match facts
Who: Adelaide Strikers v Melbourne Stars
What: Match 10, KFC BBL|15
Where: Adelaide Oval
When: Tuesday, December 23. Bat flip at 6pm local (6.30pm AEDT), first ball at 6.45pm local (7.15pm AEDT)
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Listen: ABC, SEN Radio. Listen in standard and real-time with no delay to live play via Cricket Radio on the CA Live app. Find out more here
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 and Sam Nogajski (field), Eloise Sheridan (third), Peter George (fourth), Simon Fry (match referee)
Match squads
Adelaide Strikers: Matt Short (c), Hassan Ali, Mackenzie Harvey, Chris Lynn, Harry Manenti, Harry Nielsen, Jamie Overton, Lloyd Pope, Alex Ross, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton, Jerrssis Wadia, Luke Wood
Ins: Harry Manenti Outs: N/A
The Strikers have added Harry Manenti as a local replacement player in place for Travis Head. Manenti is the only addition to the squad that defeated the Sixers in their opening match.
Melbourne Stars: Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke, Tom Curran, Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Haris Rauf, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mitch Swepson, Tom Whitney
Ins: Hamish McKenzie, Tom Whitney Outs: Jonathan Merlo (omitted), Aryan Sharma (omitted)
The Stars have recalled spinner Hamish McKenzie and a potential debutant in quick Tom Whitney, while Jonathan Merlo and replacement player Aryan Sharma have both been omitted from the travelling squad.
Club news
Adelaide Strikers
Melbourne Stars
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Players to watch
Luke Wood (Strikers): Recruited to take wickets up front with the swinging new ball and help the Strikers better defend at Adelaide Oval, the English left-armer couldn't have started much better in BBL|15 with 3-26 in their first up win over the Sixers. Wood faces a tough test against his former Big Bash team (who he took 20 wickets for in BBL|12) with the Stars' batting line up stacked with power through the middle.
Marcus Stoinis (Stars): The Stars skipper started the season in blistering fashion, belting an unbeaten 62 from 31 balls with seven fours and two sixes as well as earlier taking two wickets to give his side the perfect start to BBL|15 with a dominant eight-wicket win over the reigning champions. Stoinis returns to Adelaide Oval where he averages 42 in the Big Bash and has hit half-centuries in two of his previous three BBL matches.
Top performers
Most Runs
BBL|15 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
Finn Allen
F Allen
|
466 |
|
2
David Warner
D Warner
|
433 |
|
3
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
381 |
|
4
Mitch Marsh
M Marsh
|
360 |
|
5
Aaron Hardie
A Hardie
|
339 |
|
6
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
324 |
|
7
Ben McDermott
B McDermott
|
322 |
|
8
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
311 |
Most Wickets
BBL|15 BKT Golden Arm
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Haris Rauf
H Rauf
|
20 |
|
2
Jack Edwards
J Edwards
|
19 |
|
3
Gurinder Sandhu
G Sandhu
|
18 |
|
4
Tom Curran
T Curran
|
16 |
|
5
Peter Siddle
P Siddle
|
16 |
|
6
Ben Dwarshuis
B Dwarshuis
|
16 |
|
7
Xavier Bartlett
X Bartlett
|
15 |
|
8
Lloyd Pope
L Pope
|
15 |
Most sixes scored
BBL|15
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Finn Allen
F Allen
|
38 |
|
2
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
20 |
|
3
Mitch Marsh
M Marsh
|
20 |
|
4
David Warner
D Warner
|
20 |
|
5
Nikhil Chaudhary
N Chaudhary
|
17 |
|
6
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
17 |
|
7
Ashton Turner
A Turner
|
16 |
|
8
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
15 |
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Adelaide Strikers will be aiming for consecutive wins against Melbourne Stars in the BBL for the first time since January 2021, following their 15-run victory when they last met (December 20, 2024).
- Melbourne Stars have won six of their last seven BBL matches; although, that one defeat did come in their most recent game outside Victoria in last season's Knockout final loss to Sydney Thunder.
- Adelaide Strikers have won only one of their last four BBL matches at Adelaide Oval – a 56-run victory against the Brisbane Heat (January 11, 2025). This is set to be the Strikers' first game at the venue this season; the last time they lost their first home game of a campaign was in December 2018.
- Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars) has scored 50-plus runs in two of his last three BBL innings against the Adelaide Strikers (74, 55no, 27) and wasn't dismissed in his first innings of BBL|15 (62no v Hurricanes).
- Liam Scott (Adelaide Strikers) has scored 138 runs at an average of 46 across his last six BBL batting innings, including 50-plus scores in each of his last two innings in that span (67, 51).
What's on the line?
A chance to remain undefeated in BBL|15. Both the Strikers and Stars won their opening games of the season with another win here giving each team a chance to make the early running and go to the two-day Christmas break at the top of the standings.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
SCO
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.363 | 0 | 14 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.605 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
HUR
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.759 | 0 | 12 |
|
5
HEA
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.431 | 0 | 10 |
|
6
STR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.231 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.202 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -1.212 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points