Our Tuesday night action takes place in Hobart at Blundstone Arena, With the Hobart Hurricanes hosting the only undefeated team so far, the Perth Scorchers. Both teams had convincing wins on Saturday, with the Hurricanes in particular showing they need to be taken seriously by thumping the reigning champs. It looks like Tassie will offer up a cool, overcast night, but we should expect a full game of cricket at this stage.

 

Catch Smatho in his video preview for tonight's match including his two locks for the slate

 

 

 

 

Draftstars has put up a $25,000 contest, with top prize $2,480.

 

 

Expected Hurricanes Xl: Wade, Short, McDermott, Handscomb, Brook, Thompson, David, Ellis, Lamichanne, Rogers, Paris (Jewell, Boland)

 

Expected Scorchers Xl: Bancroft, Munro, Marsh, Inglis, Turner, Hardie, Agar, Tye, Kelly, Hatzoglou, Behrendorff (Mills, Evans)

 

The Hurricanes will start this one as outsiders, currently at $2.15. Obviously, the combo of Wade & Short at the top of the order is crucial, but the return of McDermott adds a third string to that bow. The bowling also has partial strength, with Ellis & Lamichanne the quality headliners, Rogers & Paris dependable with some upside, and then a mix of Short, Thompson & now David as a 5th bowler that can be targeted at times. Scott Boland might displace someone after his Australia A duties. Harry Brook is into the squad as a highly rated young English batter, It’s a team that is always dangerous, but just lacks the depth to compete when their stars don’t perform.

 

The Scorchers are breathing down the Sixers neck as competition favourites, and doing it without the likes of Mitch Marsh, Jhye Richardson and Josh Inglis. That will change tonight with Marsh & Inglis back, and Tymal Mills is also in the squad after looking dangerous in the World Cup. Whether he can displace someone like Peter Hatzoglou from the team will be interesting. I think Evans and Patterson will lose their spots. It makes a much more dangerous looking batting order, with the bowling unit as strong as always.

 

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Love It - Mitch Marsh $17,300

 

Back from his World Cup and Australia A commitments, Marsh is probably the form cricketer in the country at the moment. Based off his BBL history the price is close to the right level, but it feels like we can expect the hot streak to continue throughout the summer. In this lineup he’ll possibly be the 7th bowler, which means that there isn’t quite as much safety in his scoring, but the upside is still enormous. On a smaller ground, I think we’ll see fireworks.

 

Love It - Nathan Ellis $14,100

 

Continuing to evolve as Hobarts main strike bowler, Ellis is consistently good for a wicket or two at the death and can chip in with the bat and in the field if required. Despite the batting order looking stronger now for the Scorchers, I still see plenty of opportunity for some cheap late wickets if the Canes can get past Marsh and Inglis early enough in the innings. Just a tad too cheap.

 

Don’t Love It - Josh Inglis $15,600

 

This format sometimes forces us to take a stand on someone that looks pretty good on paper. Inglis continues to develop as a cricketer, almost nabbing the test position and also being able to stake a claim to be Australia’s best short form keeper based on his last couple of years of BBL form. However, first game back from a long stint as a backup in the World Cup Squad and then playing with Australia A, I want to give him a game or two to get back into the rhythm of T20 cricket. The price is fine for his usual output, I’m just expecting slow start.

 

Don’t Love It - Joel Paris $14,100

 

Coming off a nice 69 points and looking like he can play a handy role for the Hurricanes, Paris gives me some pause because I just don’t think he’s the same bowler he was before all the injuries. A former Scorchers gun & Australian representative, this version of Paris looks more like a tidy line and length operator that relies on a few mistakes from the opposition. I’d love to be proven wrong, but for now I’m going to respond to a significant price rise by taking a step back and seeing if he can keep scoring well.

 

Who Knows - Harry Brook/Jordan Thompson $8,800

 

The great weakness for the Canes seems to be their imports, with these two plus Tom Lammomby & Jordan Cox all anonymous young Englishman who are being asked to play a big role in foreign conditions. All of them have solid records in their domestic competitions but have gotten off to a slow start with a combined average of 10 so far. Brook is the one that we haven’t seen yet, and who appears to the best player of the group, so he’s probably the one to consider for tonight. Whenever they’re at minimum price I think it’s fine to take a punt on them finding their feet and showing us what they’ve got, but don’t be surprised if the pressure continues to get the better of them.

 

Suggested Draftstars Lineup  

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