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Friday serves up another double header in BBL09 action and as is often the case the second match comes at us from Optus Stadium in Perth. The Perth Scorchers (6-6) can just about seal a spot in the finals with a win here on thier home deck but face still oppistion from the Adelaide Strikers (7-4-1) who are fighting hard for that vital 2nd position on the ladder.

First of all, along with our famous  FREE Cheat Sheets and Data Tools in our Data Tools section, new for the BBL09 season, Daily Fantasy Rankings presents the Draftstars Lineup Builder! Using our Data Tools and Projections you will be able to quickly build and import BBL teams into Draftstars by using the CSV upload. Access the Builder including tutorials on how the builder works by clicking the banner below.

Draftstars have posted a $15,000 contest for a $15 entry, as well as a $1,500 Mini and even a $200 Single Entry contest for a $10 buy-in. Moneyball are offering a $4,000 contest for a $15 entry as well as a $500 guarantee on their $2 contest.

The Scorchers scored a dominant win here on Monday night over the Sydney Thunder. After some tight bowling restricted the Thunder to 153, the damaging opening partnership of Inglis (58) and Livingstone (78) led the side to pick off the runs with over 4 runs to spare and 8 wickets in hand. The good news only gets better for Scorchers fans with Australian representatives Ashton Turner and Ashton Agar returning to the squad for this match and both can be expected to play. Liam Guthrie and Cameron Green are omitted from the squad, while Kurtis Patterson may struggle to make the final 11. 

The Strikers also come into this match off a big win, having knocked off the top of the table Melbourne Stars on Wednesday night in Adelaide. Mr Consistent Jonathan Wells again rescued the innings with an impressive 55 not out off 36 balls before 4/33 from Peter Siddle helped restricted the Stars to fall 11 runs short of the Strikers 162 run total. They take the same 13 man squad over to Perth and are likely to maintain the same 11 man outfit.

We continue to harp on the Perth stadium being advantageous to batsmen now and despite the Thunder only scoring 153 here last game, the class of the Perth openers showed there was no issue with scoring quickly as they put on 136 in only 13.2 overs. This may account for the Scorchers allowing the 2nd most fantasy points to opposing batsmen as they spend every second game bowling on this ground. That said, this is a good Adelaide side who look well equipped for this ground as they have the second best bowling attack in the competition in terms of conceding fantasy points and they have the firepower with the bat to take advantage of high scoring conditions. 

Last time these two teams played was back on December 23 but it was a most entertaining match with similar lineups. Adelaide whacked the Scorchers bowlers everywhere to make 198, highlighted by 83 (47) by Jake Weatherald and a rapid 55 (24) from Alex Carey. Perth gave it a mighty shake in their run chase – they were on 124 in only the 9th over when Livingstone was first dismissed for 69 (26) – but they couldn’t close it out and fell 15 runs short of their target. With similar lineups set to do battle on a high-scoring ground, it appears another entertaining match dominated by the batsmen would be the most likely result.

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Batsmen

Love It – Josh Inglis ($16,000 Draftstars)

I’ve been happy to play Josh Inglis and see no reason to stop now. With 5 scores of at least 28 in his past 6 knocks he has been incredibly consistent, and he made an excellent 50 off 27 against Adelaide earlier in the season. In a game of big names he is arguably the best priced player in the match.

Don’t Love It – Cameron Bancroft ($14,400 Draftstars) 

Bancroft has had a reasonable campaign for the Scorchers but rarely will you hear a fantasy coach bragging that they cashed in on Bancroft. His strike rate limits his ceiling and is the major reason he won’t hurt you if you leave him out, evidenced by his top fantasy score of the season of only 76. He could return to the number 3 position with the two Ashton’s returning to the middle order but if the openers bat deep into the innings he can slide down the order to let the hitters come in. Many others look to have more contest-winning upside than Bancroft here.

Who Knows – Jake Weatherald ($15,200 Draftstars)

The form of Jake Weatherald has really hit the skids of late after a bright start to the season. His 15 off 27 last game against the Stars was a horrible return for the opening batsman who usually has a high strike rate and probably indicative of the form he is in. That may reduce his ownership here and there is no denying his ceiling when he gets going – including the 83 we mentioned last time he faced this Scorchers attack. He’s a risky play but the upside is immense.

Bowlers

Love It – Peter Siddle ($15,600 Draftstars)

Siddle is simply a quality T20 bowler and he displayed that again the other night against the Stars when he took 4/33. I’m a bit wary what that performance will do to his ownership here but the facts are he has only gone wicketless twice so far this season and he earns an economy bonus more often than not. It’s hard to have great confidence in any bowler on this ground but Siddle is an experienced campaigner at a reasonable price and looks as good a play as anyone.

Don’t Love It – Billy Stanlake ($10,700 Draftstars)

On a slate packed with quality players, Billy Stanlake may find himself in more teams than he should given his low price and likelihood of bowling 4 overs. A sobering statistic for those looking to save their cash on Stanlake however is the fact he has taken just 1 wicket from 25 overs so far this season and only once has he scored an economy bonus. He’s cheap but he’s a genuine chance of a big zero and I’d much rather roster Matthew Short to save salary instead.

Who Knows – Rashid Khan ($22,200 Draftstars)

There’s two schools of thought on how to play your bowlers on a high scoring ground like here in Perth. You could spend down in the bowlers and spend up trying to catch the big batting scores, or you could pay up for the best bowler in the business – Rashid Khan. He’s going to be hard to fit in at this price given the lack of value options and that should restrict his ownership. But despite his price he probably has as much chance of hitting value as anyone, given he has just one score under 49 (a dirty 0 against the Canes) in his last 10 matches. Combine that with an obviously high ceiling when everything clicks and Khan is always a play to consider, no matter the price tag.