BBL mid-season review: Sixers, Scorchers set pace

1st: Sydney Sixers (21 points)

Played 7 | Won 6 | Lost 1 | NRR 1.264

Form: You can never write off your defending champion. Chasing 178 to win at the MCG, Josh Philippe countered Glenn Maxwell's hundred with a spectacular 99 not out to get his side home. Just this week, the Sixers were 8-47 against the Heat before Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis pulled off a miracle escape. They can also be ruthless when on top, as the Stars found out when they were rolled for 61 in the season opener. Philippe, James Vince, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Jordan Silk and Dan Christian are all firing, and they are all match-winners on any given day. They've also had their injury troubles – English star Tom Curran and Ben Manenti are out for the season, Jackson Bird has missed the first half and veteran Steve O'Keefe has missed the past few games, while international speedster Chris Jordan has also jetted off home. But the boys in magenta have just kept winning and with the inclusion of star Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan for the rest of the tournament, they could well just keep getting stronger.

Standout: Abbott is continuing to build his case as one of the BBL's best ever. He bowls, he bats and he's a jet in the field. The competition's all-time leading wicket-taker has backed up that title by rising to the top of the wickets tally in BBL|11 after just five games, having missed two games early due to the birth of his first child.

One to watch: The Sixers will be hoping for a big score out of Vince before he jets off for international duties around January 13. The English opener, who has been picked for his country's T20I tour of the West Indies in late January, is yet to pass 50 in BBL|11.

Run home: Renegades, Heat, Scorchers, Scorchers, Renegades, Thunder, Strikers

2nd: Perth Scorchers (21 points)

Played 7 | Won 6 | Lost 1 | NRR 1.188

Form: Despite being on the road for all bar their first game, the Scorchers haven't missed a beat, dominating every team they've played except the Thunder. Two batters – Mitch Marsh and New Zealand import Colin Munro – have hit centuries, while Kurtis Patterson has hit two half-centuries and after a slow start English T20 journeyman Laurie Evans is finding his groove with a couple of destructive performances. Their bowling has been on point – except against the Thunder where they conceded 200. They start so well that it results in the opposition needing to play catch up in the power surge, which only leads to more wickets and puts the Scorchers further on top. Australian T20 World Cup spinner Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, AJ Tye and Peter Hatzoglou have been extremely economical while also picking up wickets, while paceman Matthew Kelly has struggled to break into the side after his 4-28 in the first game. Tye said a laser focus has been their means of overcoming their arduous on-the-road schedule. "We've just turned up to the ground looking at the opposition and trying and do everything we can to beat them," he said. "We're handling it well as a group."

Standout: Mitch Marsh has carried his destructive form T20 World Cup form into BBL|11, having hit 255 runs at a strike-rate of 144 in five innings in the tournament, while also chipping in with four wickets.

One to watch: Josh Inglis has struggled to get going since his return from Australia A duties. The wicketkeeper-batter has appeared a man in a hurry during his five knocks so far that have only yielded 27 runs, which includes two ducks. His dismissals have included being bowled first ball trying to whip across the line, running past a spinner and chipping it to mid-wicket twice. He's just joined the Test squad as additional cover due to a Covid-19 scare, but once he gets back with the Scorchers, he looms as a serious x-factor heading into the finals.

Run home: Stars, Stars, Thunder, Sixers, Sixers, Strikers, Heat

3rd: Hobart Hurricanes (17 points)

Played 7 | Won 4 | Lost 3 | NRR 0.417

Form: The Hurricanes are starting to string a few games together on the coattails of Ben McDermott, who became the first batter to score centuries in back-to-back BBL innings and the first to three in total. He has surged up the leaderboard to take over as the tournament's leading run scorer with 353 at an average of 88.25. Tom Rogers has been outstanding with the ball to be joint leading wicket-taker and plays with a passion unrivalled in the competition. The return of Riley Meredith to full fitness will help their push towards finals. The Hurricanes along with the Thunder look the likeliest to compete with the Scorchers and Sixers, and both those side's only losses have come at the hands of these two teams.

Standout: Wow, just wow! It seems the only word to describe McDermott's form right now. The right-hander is hitting the ball a cleanly as anyone in Big Bash history. Aussie legend Andrew Symonds labelled his 127 against the Renegades the best knock he's ever seen, but his 110 not out two nights earlier was not far behind it. Can he make it three in a row on New Year's Day? You'd love to see it. If McDermott keeps firing, then the Hurricanes could be on their way to their first title.

One to watch: It's only a matter of time before D'Arcy Short finds his mojo. He's a class player who sits fourth on the BBL's all-time run scorers list with 2,315, with the highest average of the top six. He's shown glimpses in the past few games after he moved down to three, and if Matthew Wade lasts a bit longer in the opening partnership with McDermott then it will allow Short to find the gaps outside the powerplay and get into his innings a bit easier.

Run home: Heat, Strikers, Heat, Thunder, Thunder, Renegades, Stars

4th: Sydney Thunder (16 points)

Played 7 | Won 4 | Lost 3 | NRR 0.541

Form: The Thunder put together their most complete performance of the season to date as they ended the Scorchers' six-match winning streak. Sam Billings has been in exceptional touch with 236 runs and will be looking to add to that before he departs for national duties around January 13. They will also lose speedster Saqib Mahmood to that England squad, who has taken seven wickets in his first three games. Nathan McAndrew has also been bowling well, as has young exciting leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha. "We've been threatening to put a performance in like that," Billings said after the Scorchers win. "We haven't quite pieced it all together with both the bat and the ball, so it was great to do it against the best team in the competition."

Standout: Jason Sangha's recall has been a masterstroke by veteran coach Trevor Bayliss. The standout spot could have easily belonged to Billings, but it's been the 22-year-old's form that has allowed the Englishman to be so destructive. Sangha returned to the team for the first time since BBL|08 in the Thunder's fourth game of the season and has put together knocks of 39, 47, 56no and 91no, and just keeps on improving with each turn at the crease.

One to watch: Ben Cutting made 37 from the top of the order against the Strikers last night and has the game to capitalise on the Powerplay, so if he is given more opportunities opening the innings, he could well make the most of them.

Run home: Strikers, Scorchers, Renegades, Hurricanes, Hurricanes, Sixers, Renegades

5th: Brisbane Heat (10 points)

Played 7 | Won 2 | Lost 5 | NRR -0.28

Form: The Heat have been up and down like a yo-yo. Their batting is yet to fully click and their bowling can be expensive. But what they do have is a bit of fight, as they showed against the Sixers after being bundled out for 105 in what turned out to be the game of the tournament so far. It looks like it will be between the Heat and the Stars for the last spot in the finals and as last year showed, once this team gets on a roll they're hard to stop. With Chris Lynn, Ben Duckett, Jimmy Peirson, Sam Heazlett and Max Bryant in the line-up you can never fully write them off.

Standout: Xavier Bartlett has turned heads with his all-round performances. The 23-year-old has taken seven wickets in his five games and scored 103 runs, with his crucial lower-order knocks getting the Heat out of trouble on a number of occasions. An honourable mention goes to Duckett who has found his groove at number four to post two half-centuries, with his powerful sweep and reverse sweeps exciting to watch.

One to watch: Afghanistan star Mujeeb Ur Rahman has struggled to make an impact so far this season. He's been economical at times but has only managed three wickets. With the other bowlers going for plenty of runs, opposition batters have been able to sit on Mujeeb and take minimal risks to negate his impact. 

Run home: Hurricanes, Sixers, Renegades, Hurricanes, Strikers, Stars, Scorchers

6th: Melbourne Stars (10 points)

Played 6 | Won 3 | Lost 3 | NRR -1.114

Form: Like the Heat, it's been an up and down start to the year for the Stars who are another side that hasn't quite been able to piece together a full game. The season started on a low point as they were bundled out for 61 against the reigning champions. They fell to the Sixers again despite a maiden BBL hundred to Maxwell, while in between they beat the Thunder twice. Encouragingly, the likes of Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke and Nick Larkin have stepped up when Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have failed to fire. Expect the Stars to be thereabouts come finals and from there, who knows what could happen with their list of match winners? They've lost Andre Russell after his five-game stint but will welcome back Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf for their next match.

Standout: It's been a remarkable summer for young quick Brody Couch. The 22-year-old has made his first-class and T20 debut and after six games has 10 wickets, just two behind clubhouse leader Abbott. He's bowled with good pace and control and is growing in confidence with every outing, as is captain Maxwell who has entrusted him with the tough overs of late, including the final one of the innings against the Hurricanes.

One to watch: Aussie T20 World Cup hero Stoinis is yet to crack a big score but you know it's coming. One wonders if the switch back to the top of the order since the World Cup has affected his rhythm, but with the highest score in the history of the competition to his name, there is no doubt he has the capability to destroy any bowling attack.

Run home: Scorchers, Scorchers, Renegades, Strikers, Strikers, Renegades, Heat, Hurricanes

7th: Adelaide Strikers (8 points)

Played 7 | Won 1 | Lost 6 | NRR -0.61

Form: It's been a disappointing start for the Strikers and it's clear they miss the experience provided by Test players Travis Head and Alex Carey. They haven't been able to string a complete batting innings together and despite their fast starts, they have fallen away at the back end. Indeed, in their first six games of BBL|11 the Strikers have scored a combined 13-495 in the first 10 overs of their innings, compared to 36-442 in the final half of the innings. Fortunately for them, that means they've claimed a number of Bash Boost points, meaning they aren't too far out of the top five despite just one win. "The second half of our innings, we've lost wickets in clumps," he said. "That is something that hopefully we can address and be better at going forward."

Standout: Young gun Thomas Kelly has shown plenty of promise after coming into the side after game two. With scores of 26, 41, 27 and 28, his late-order hitting has boosted the Strikers scorecards after they lose their way in the middle of the innings. The 21-year-old has shown he can clear the boundary with ease and we might well see him shift up the order soon.

One to watch: English bowling allrounder George Garton will be looking for a breakout performance ahead of a potential debut for his country during their T20I tour of the West Indies in late January. The left-armer has been a touch expensive in a couple of games but he's also been handed the difficult Power Surge overs. He'll also be looking to convert one of his starts into a decent score to help the Strikers finish their batting innings' before he plays his last game around January 13.

Run home: Thunder, Hurricanes, Stars, Stars, Heat, Scorchers, Sixers

8th: Melbourne Renegades (5 points)

Played 6 | Won 1 | Lost 5 | NRR -1.758

Form: There's not much to say here apart from that it couldn't have gone much worse after claiming the past two wooden spoons. Even the return of T20 World Cup champion Aaron Finch and new captain Nic Maddinson hasn't helped the struggling 'Gades, who have now lost five games on the trot after beating the Strikers first up. There's been glimpses but they haven't yet been able to put together an entire 40 overs, and they look destined for their third straight spoon.

Standout: Mackenzie Harvey has been the one shining light. The 21-year-old is the only Renegades batter to pass fifty multiple times and sits 11th among the tournament's leading run-scorers. "The side we've got, if we can put that full game together, then we can pretty much beat anyone," he said. "There's just been patches that really let us down and that's given the momentum across to the opposition."

One to watch: Mohammad Nabi has barely registered a statistic so far this season with only one wicket and a top score of 12 from his six innings. The Renegades desperately need the Afghanistan veteran to contribute in the middle-order if they are to string a few wins together.

Run home: Sixers, Stars, Heat, Thunder, Sixers, Stars, Hurricanes, Thunder