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Friday was full of upsets, milestones, and records in BBL12. The action is set to continue on Saturday night, when the Perth Scorchers host the Sydney Sixers in a grand final rematch.

Perth have been decimated by a raft of late outs heading into this tournament, but they will be keen to silence the doubters with a victory over the vulnerable Sixers.

Draftstars have put up a huge $25,000 contest for this one, as well as other contests to suit every budget.

Scorchers Squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Faf du Plessis (SA)

Sixers Squad:  Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Izharulhaq Naveed (AFG), Chris Jordan (ENG), Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince (ENG), Todd Murphy, Mickey Edwards, Jack Edwards

Off the back of a title-winning season in BBL11, the Scorchers were heading into this campaign as favourites just a few weeks ago.

Then, disaster struck.

Mitch Marsh and Phil Salt have both been struck down with injury, while BBL11 Final hero Laurie Evans will be missing from BBL12 due to a positive doping test.

To make matters worse, English import Tymal Mills has also been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to family reasons.

As a result, the Scorchers have dropped down the power rankings in the lead up to their first game.

Despite this, there is still plenty of talent in their squad to get excited about. With the bat, Josh Inglis and Ashton Turner have performed well on the international stage and as has South Africa’s Faf du Plessis.

The Scorchers also boast a strong bowling attack – Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, Peter Hatzoglou, Jason Behrendorff and Ashton Agar have formed a lethal unit in recent years.

Sydney also appear to have lost their edge on the competition, kicking off BBL12 with a loss to the Strikers.

Import Izharulhaq Naveed was the shining light with the ball, taking 2-25, however he received little support from the seamers.

Jordan Silk was the only player to get going with the bat, hitting 36 off 25 as last year’s finalists ultimately fell 51 runs short.

It is this area of the game – batting – that I see as Sydney’s weakness in BBL12. Josh Phillipe and James Vince bring plenty of quality, but the rest of the line-up is hardly intimidating.

In light of recent events, this game shapes up as a huge one for two wounded warriors.

Scorchers vs Sixers Fantasy Plays

Love It – Josh Inglis ($13,300)

With Marsh, Salt and Evans missing, Inglis is likely to take on more responsibility this season as Perth’s leading batsman. He has struck over 1000 runs at this level at an average of nearly 27, so he has the quality to take the step up in BBL12, especially since he now has experience at international level.

Love It – Izharulhaq Naveed ($12,600)

Naveed impressed against the Strikers on BBL debut taking 2-25 off his four overs. Today he comes up against a weakened Scorchers batting outfit that is stacked with right-handers… a leg spinner’s bread and butter. As such, I’m expecting another strong performance.

Don’t Love It – Faf du Plessis ($18,800)

Don’t get me wrong, Du Plessis has been a great player for a long time, but I don’t think he’s worth a near $19k spend here. The veteran is not the player he once was, and the T20 format doesn’t suit his skills, demonstrated by his non-selection for the T20 World Cup.

Don’t Love It – Dan Christian ($15,300)

As I expected, Christian was not given a bowl in Sydney’s season opener. He played purely as a middle-order batsman and in this role he has to make a 30+ score to provide value at $15k. While this continues to be the case, the odds are stacked against Christian unless his price plummets. 

Who Knows – Aaron Hardie ($11,300)

The recent chaos at the Scorchers presents opportunity – could Hardie be a beneficiary of Perth’s revised strategy? A genuine all-rounder, Hardie has all the ingredients of a great DFS scorer. All he needs is a consistent role with the ball, which he may now get in the absence of Mills and Marsh.

Draftstars Suggested Lineup

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