Matchups Analysis: Sydney Sixers vs Perth Scorchers

There were mixed results last round from my player matchup data predictions. The match result was perhaps the more important factor, due to the Scorchers winning so heavily.

Nonetheless, Liam Livingstone and Fawad Ahmed both backed up their favourable player matchup stats.

I expect the BBL Final to be a little more evenly contested, even though the Sixers dominated when these teams met in the first round of the finals.

Now onto the player matchups.

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The data favours Steve O’Keefe in the final, with only the Scorchers’ lower-order bats having favourable records against left-arm orthodox bowling. The stats are a little less favourable for fellow left-armer, Ben Dwarshuis, who is classified as left-arm medium by cricmetric.com.

The matchups also look reasonable to me for right-arm quick Sean Abbott, whilst less so for the right-arm medium pacers Carlos Braithwaite, Jackson Bird, Jake Ball and Dan Christian.

Abbott and O’Keefe may be used to target in-form opener Liam Livingstone, perhaps reducing the English allrounders’ appeal as a captaincy option.

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Table 1: Scorchers’ batsman vs opposing bowler type, T20s over the last 3 years (extracted from cricmetric.com)

Versus Player Type	Outs	Avg	SR
Liam Livingstone
Left-arm Medium	4	44.5	124.5
Left-arm Orthodox	9	22.9	114.4
Right-arm Fast	8	23	149.6
Right-arm Medium	32	33	154.3
All bowling types	77	29.4	143.6
Cameron Bancroft
Left-arm Medium	2	46	133.3
Left-arm Orthodox	2	29.5	120.4
Right-arm Fast	2	43.5	124.3
Right-arm Medium	10	39.9	121.3
All bowling types	25	36.3	121.4
Jason Roy
Left-arm Medium	4	49.2	131.3
Left-arm Orthodox	10	18.8	128.8
Right-arm Fast	7	21.9	139.1
Right-arm Medium	16	31.9	132.5
All bowling types	50	27.7	131.4
Colin Munro
Left-arm Medium	8	40.4	153.8
Left-arm Orthodox	10	18.7	116.1
Right-arm Fast	5	41.4	116.9
Right-arm Medium	38	30.7	147
All bowling types	88	30.4	138.8
Josh Inglis
Left-arm Medium	1	77	179.1
Left-arm Orthodox	3	26.7	170.2
Right-arm Fast	4	26.2	136.4
Right-arm Medium	16	26.6	139.7
All bowling types	29	31.7	144.3
Mitch Marsh
Left-arm Medium	0	–	215
Left-arm Orthodox	2	19	84.4
Right-arm Fast	2	25.5	182.1
Right-arm Medium	10	45.2	149.2
All bowling types	24	33.8	137.1
Ashton Turner
Left-arm Medium	18	19.2	123.6
Left-arm Orthodox	17	26.6	125.5
Right-arm Fast	10	34	141.7
Right-arm Medium	42	33.3	130.2
All bowling types	114	29.6	128.8
Aaron Hardie
Left-arm Medium	1	7	100
Left-arm Orthodox	0	–	50
Right-arm Fast	1	2	28.6
Right-arm Medium	2	35.5	154.3
All bowling types	5	21	111.7
Jhye Richardson
Left-arm Medium	2	0.5	25
Left-arm Orthodox	1	23	143.8
Right-arm Fast	0	–	123.1
Right-arm Medium	3	50.7	176.7
All bowling types	9	23.1	147.5

You could also factor in the Sixers’ bowling records vs right/left handers, with Munro the only left-hander in the Scorcher’s batting line-up. This data also favours O’Keefe in particular.

Table 2: Sixers’ bowlers vs opposing batter type, T20s over the last 3 years (extracted from cricmetric.com)

Sixers	Wickets	Econ	SR
Sean Abbott
Left	14	7.43	12.6
Right	39	8.81	14.3
Total	53	8.48	13.8
Jackson Bird
Left	7	6.86	25
Right	16	7.45	22.8
Total	23	7.26	23.5
Steve O’Keefe
Left	13	7.3	34.3
Right	58	6.43	19.7
Total	71	6.67	22.4
Ben Dwarshuis
None	0	6	–
Left	23	7.02	18.5
Right	59	8.46	17.1
Total	82	8.03	17.5
Carlos Brathwaite
Left	26	9.17	17.4
Right	49	8.25	17.3
Total	75	8.57	17.3
Jake Ball
Left	6	8.9	23.8
Right	28	9.29	14.2
Total	34	9.18	15.9

In terms of the Sixers’ batting line-up, the matchups look a little less appealing to me for Fawad Ahmed’s legspin than in the match against the Heat. The Sixers also have a good record against right-arm fast bowlers, perhaps reducing the appeal of Jhye Richardson as a captaincy option.

The Sixers boast a pretty good line-up in general. However, there are a few players the Scorchers could look to target with left-armer Jason Behrendorff (including Josh Philippe, Moises Henriques and Carlos Braithwaite).

Table 3: Sixers’ batsman vs opposing bowler type, T20s over the last 3 years (extracted from cricmetric.com)

Versus Player Type	Outs	Avg	SR
Josh Phillipe
Left-arm Medium	6	20.3	105.2
Right-arm Fast	4	34.2	139.8
Right-arm Legbreak	9	27.6	162.1
Right-arm Medium	14	40.2	137.7
Right-arm Offbreak	2	51	129.1
All bowling types	40	34.2	140.2
James Vince
Left-arm Medium	8	36.4	144.8
Right-arm Fast	11	21.2	122.6
Right-arm Legbreak	10	36.6	141.9
Right-arm Medium	30	33.7	135.6
Right-arm Offbreak	7	28.4	124.4
All bowling types	79	31.5	134.8
Daniel Hughes
Left-arm Medium	3	37.3	134.9
Right-arm Fast	1	148	127.6
Right-arm Legbreak	12	16.7	125.8
Right-arm Medium	13	34.4	129.6
Right-arm Offbreak	7	20.6	108.3
All bowling types	39	30	125.5
Moises Henriques
Left-arm Medium	4	19	120.6
Right-arm Fast	2	55	224.5
Right-arm Legbreak	8	26.1	117.4
Right-arm Medium	12	30.9	133.5
Right-arm Offbreak	2	35.5	134
All bowling types	33	29.5	131.8
Jordan Silk
Left-arm Medium	6	17	164.5
Right-arm Fast	2	41	126.2
Right-arm Legbreak	4	37	94.3
Right-arm Medium	11	38.3	137.1
Right-arm Offbreak	1	58	103.6
All bowling types	27	34.8	125.2
Dan Christian
Left-arm Medium	4	53.8	177.7
Right-arm Fast	5	45.2	159.2
Right-arm Legbreak	6	44.5	134.2
Right-arm Medium	32	29.5	168.1
Right-arm Offbreak	6	15.5	96.9
All bowling types	63	31.1	150
Carlos Brathwaite
Left-arm Medium	2	16	123.1
Right-arm Fast	7	4.3	90.9
Right-arm Legbreak	4	14	100
Right-arm Medium	19	18.2	155.4
Right-arm Offbreak	0	–	45.8
All bowling types	40	12.8	121.2
Sean Abbott
Left-arm Medium	2	17	141.7
Right-arm Fast	0	–	50
Right-arm Legbreak	4	6.2	86.2
Right-arm Medium	4	10	142.9
Right-arm Offbreak	1	14	93.3
All bowling types	12	10.4	113.6

The Sixers are another team with just the one left-hander in their batting line-up (Dan Hughes). This favours Jhye Richardson and Liam Livingstone (if he bowls).

It’s also worth noting that I haven’t updated the table below since the Heat match. A number of Scorchers were successful against the Heat’s right-hand dominant batting line-up. Notably, this included Jason Behrendorff, who snared the key wickets of Chris Lynn and Joe Denly.

Table 4: Scorchers’ bowlers vs opposing batter type, T20s over the last 3 years (extracted from cricmetric.com)

Scorchers	Wickets	Econ	SR
Jason Behrendorff
Left	27	7.23	17.9
Right	54	7.15	19.4
Total	81	7.17	18.9
Jhye Richardson
Left	15	7.43	20.4
Right	52	7.72	15.5
Total	67	7.64	16.6
Andrew Tye
Left	24	8.47	18.5
Right	70	8.16	17.4
Total	94	8.24	17.7
Fawad Ahmed
Switch hits	1	3.6	5
Left	39	7.2	19.2
Right	88	6.98	18.6
Total	128	7.04	18.7
Aaron Hardie
Left	7	7.86	8.3
Right	2	8.81	94
Total	9	8.59	27.3
Liam Livingstone
Switch hits	0	7.71	–
Left	7	8.43	20.4
Right	36	7.79	11.8
Total	43	7.95	13.4

Finally, there’s five players of interest who I’ve decided to analyse for direct player matchups, being Philippe, Abbott, Dwarshuis, Richardson and Behrendorff.

Phillipe’s record looks solid enough, although his record against Behrendorff backs up the earlier data vs left-arm mediums.  

Table 5 – Josh Philippe player matchups (career T20s, extracted from cricmetric.com)

Versus Player	Runs	Outs	Avg	SR
AJ Tye	50	0	–	238.1
Fawad Ahmed	57	1	57	172.7
JA Richardson	37	1	37	185
JP Behrendorff	21	1	21	91.3
AM Hardie	21	0	–	161.5
LS Livingstone	1	1	1	50

Of the bowlers, I like the look of Jhye Richardson’s record best. I also think a case can be made for leaving out Abbott and/or Dwarshuis, especially if you think the Scorchers will win.

Table 6: Key player matchups – bowlers (career T20s, extracted from cricmetric.com)

Versus Player	Runs	Wickets	Econ	SR
Jason Behrendorff
JM Vince	29	0	10.88	–
JR Philippe	22	1	5.74	23
DP Hughes	22	0	8.25	–
MC Henriques	12	2	4	9
JC Silk	25	0	7.89	–
DT Christian	18	0	6.75	–
Jhye Richardson
JM Vince	32	1	6.4	30
JR Philippe	38	1	11.4	20
DP Hughes	55	1	7.33	45
MC Henriques	24	2	7.58	9.5
JC Silk	29	1	6.21	28
DT Christian	8	1	12	4
CR Brathwaite	2	1	4	3
SA Abbott	8	0	16	–
Sean Abbott
LS Livingstone	1	0	6	–
JJ Roy	1	1	6	1
CT Bancroft	29	0	11.6	–
C Munro	10	0	10	–
JP Inglis	9	0	9	–
MR Marsh	37	1	9.65	23
AJ Turner	74	3	12	12.3
JA Richardson	14	1	6.46	13
Ben Dwarshuis
LS Livingstone	11	1	6	11
JJ Roy	7	0	5.25	–
CT Bancroft	11	0	4.12	–
C Munro	17	0	17	–
JP Inglis	28	0	8.84	–
MR Marsh	12	0	8	–
AJ Turner	22	2	6.6	10
JA Richardson	6	2	3.6	5

Verdict

We saw last round how pivotal the match result can be to SuperCoach scores. I think SuperCoaches should first consider how the final will play out, then delve into other factors, including player matchups.

This final should be a cracker, with arguably the best two teams in BBL history facing-off. The Sixers have home ground advantage and a last start win against the Scorchers.

However, I think the Scorchers will learn from the loss in the opening round of the finals to bounce back and claim BBL10 (sorry Thommo….).

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With this in mind, the matchups look good to me for Richardson (who I plan to captain) and Behrendorff in particular.

I’m also contemplating leaving out some or all of Philippe, Abbott and Dwarshuis. With only 22 players to choose from, I think it will be tricky to leave all of them out. Two out of three could be the play.

Thanks for reading and listening throughout the season. All the best for 2021 and we hope to see you back for the NRL season and then BBL11!