Seeing Double: SC prospects with double lives

Here is it, the final round! And after so much chaos, surely this round will be unscathed, right? Only time will tell.

Round 12 was an interesting one with the Adelaide Strikers unexpectedly going awesome in their two matches.

A victory against the Stars was great, but a thrashing of the ladder leaders was an unexpected boon for those that jumped on the blue crew.

Nearly 80% of the top 1k successfully looped Matt Short this round, meaning the variants between teams won’t have been huge, but hopefully with some smart trading you’ll see green on Monday morning.

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Round 13 is the big finish we deserve after this season with a mammoth four teams on the double and no teams on the bye. Unprecedented? Probably. How to navigate this? Well here’s a few thoughts from me.

Personally, with the Sixers, Hurricanes, Heat and Renegades all on the DGW, there’s plenty of fantastic options to choose from and it would be remiss not to make the most of the final week.

This is especially the case when considering the teams on the single game week and their match-ups.

The Strikers (vs Sixers), Stars (vs Hurricanes) won’t be favourites in their SGW clashes, and there’s a chance the Scorchers could rest their best players knowing they’ve sewn up a top two finish and won’t benefit from any kind of home ground advantage.

That leaves the Thunder, who take on the lowly Renegades, as the only SGW side with a favourable match-up.

But your players from those other teams – the likes of Siddle, Tye or even Matt Short – could be worth trading out at their high value for a player on the DGW.

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Back on the DGW sides, let’s first look at the match-ups before we review some team considerations.

• The Sixers take on the Adelaide Strikers (Adelaide Oval) in Game 1 and the Brisbane Heat (Gabba) in Game 4 of the round. This is likely to be the team where your VC comes from.
• The Brisbane Heat take on the Scorchers (Marvel) in Game 2 and the Sydney Sixers (Gabba) in Game 4 of the round. This could be where your VC or skipper comes from.
• The Hobart Hurricanes take on the Melbourne Renegades (Marvel) in Game 3 and the Melbourne Stars (MCG) in Game 6. This could be where your skipper comes from.
• The Melbourne Renegades take on the Hurricanes (Marvel) in Game 3) and the Sydney Thunder (MCG) in game 5 of the round. This could be where your skipper comes from.

So out of the four sides on the DGW, whose match-ups do you like the best?

On paper, the Hobart Hurricanes have technically the best draw as they’ll face the two bottom-placed clubs.

The Sixers also take on two teams outside the top three and would enter both matches as favourites.

The Brisbane Heat have the worst draw with the two best clubs in their DGW, while the Renegades have a mixed fixture with the Hurricanes and Thunder.

By simple logic, the Hurricanes are the team to trade in. But is it ever that simple? Here’s some team and match-up factors to consider from each club.

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Sydney Sixers

• Jordan Silk aggravated a hamstring injury in their last match and is unlikely to be available for either match. Silk has currently been replaced by Justin Avendano in the batting line-up, however, the Sixers may instead opt to bring in an additional bowler (Todd Murphy) and elevate Dan Christian to number 5. In the latter scenario, this would also benefit Sean Abbott who could bat at 6, with Hayden Kerr at 5.
• The Sydney Sixers have never lost to the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba.
• The Heat will benefit from the return of Michael Neser and Mitch Swepson into their line-up, giving them strong depth in their bowling slots.
• The Adelaide Oval and Gabba are very high-scoring grounds for SuperCoach, helping produce big runs and plenty of wickets.

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Hobart Hurricanes

• Quick bowlers Joel Paris and Nathan Ellis do not have confirmed return dates but were discussed as possibly returning by the end of the competition.
• Ellis’ return would see him take over the all-important death bowling role.
• Matt Wade averages 87 against the Renegades across his career and 86 against the Stars.
• Ben McDermott averages 87 v Renegades and 75 against the Stars.
• D’Arcy Short averages 77 against the Renegades and 72 against the Stars.
• Popular auto-emergency loop option Josh Kann has recovered from COVID and will be in the selection mix again, although he’s unlikely to play a part.

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Brisbane Heat

• Big changes last game saw Swepson, Neser, Bazley, Peirson, Steketee return, with Mujeeb, Guthrie, Bartlett, Prestwidge, Lehmann all out.
• Playing his first game for the Heat in 3,657 days, Michael Neser returned and with a terrific role is a genuine POD option for the upcoming round.
• A struggling batting line-up, mixed with tough opposition, could see him get opportunities with the bat.
• Neser averaged 50 in BBL09 and 53 in BBL06, averages in between those season were sall around the mid-late 40s.
• While disappointing on return against the Stars, Mitch Swepson is the side’s key spinner, bolstered by the out of Mujeeb.
• Swepson averaged 55 last season for the Heat.
• With games against the top two team in the Sixers and Scorchers, points may be extremely hard to come by for the Heat.

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Melbourne Renegades

• Clashes with the Thunder and Hurricanes – both with plenty on the line – makes for an awkward few games for the Renegades.
• Aaron Finch put together a patient 45 last outing, he came in at number five. The top order failed to fire, but this is a big concern for owners.
• Now out of finals contention, Finch may stay down the order to give the younger generation an opportunity, while it puts uncertainty around the rest of the line-up.
• Could Kane Richardson get a rest as a result? They don’t have much else to lean on, so he should be fine for both games, but be cautious when selecting captains.

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