BBL09 action this Friday sees the return bout between the Adelaide Strikers and the Brisbane Heat, this time at the Adelaide Oval. These two sides played on Tuesday at The Gabba where James Pattinson took 5 wickets to see the Strikers knocked over for a paltry 110. Brisbane comfortably passed their score with nearly 5 overs remaining for the loss of only 3 wickets, highlighted by an unbeaten 52 from Matt Renshaw and an entertaining 40 from star import AB De Villiers in his first Big Bash match.

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 $10,000 contest for a $15 entry, as well as a $1,000 Mini and even a $200 Single Entry contest for a $10 buy-in. Moneyball are offering a $3,000 contest for a $15 entry as well as a $500 guarantee on their $2 contest.

The loss on Tuesday has seen the Strikers fall to a precarious 5th on the table with a 4-4-1 record. They have stuck with the same 13 that they took to Brisbane and are hopeful Peter Siddle will play despite splitting the webbing between his 4th and 5th fingers in the loss to the Heat. Fast bowlers Wes Agar and Billy Stanlake were the two to miss out in Brisbane so don’t expect any changes in the batting despite the substandard display there.

The Heat have overcome a slow start to the season to charge up the ladder into 3rd spot with a 5-4 record and a win here will get them very close to a finals berth. They also go into this match with an unchanged 13 man squad, however paceman Ben Laughlin is hoping to return to the side after missing the match at the Gabba with a bruised heel. Who he will replace is a tough question given the well-rounded bowling performance in his absence.

A sunny forecast for Adelaide on Friday means we can plan for the full 40 overs. The Adelaide Oval has a reputation as a batting paradise but actually provides quite a reasonable battle between bat and ball and we have seen both high- and low-scoring contests played out at the ground this season. Teams batting first also have held a slight edge across the past few seasons, resisting the modern-day trend where teams generally like to be the chasers.

These two teams sit around the middle of the pack when it comes to fantasy points conceded. The Heat give up a little more to opposition batsmen than bowlers, a trend which has become stronger as their top-order hits its straps as the season goes on. On the flip side the Strikers concede a little more to opposition bowlers than batsmen as their batting has been a little flimsy in recent times. Interestingly these two teams have their relative strengths and weaknesses pitted against each other - the strong Heat batting led by Lynn and De Villiers against the wily Strikers bowling led by Khan and Siddle - making for what should be a cracking clash.

 

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Batting

 

Love It - AB De Villiers ($18,200 on Draftstars) 

AB looked sublime in his first outing for the Heat when scoring 40 runs from number 4. A highlight of his innings was the way he handled Rashid Khan and that has to give you confidence to roster him here in the return bout. We know from his international exploits that he can explode his strike rate so he has both the floor and the ceiling to be the top play on the board.

 

Don’t Love It - Matt Renshaw ($16,400 on Draftstars)

Renshaw is likely to be pretty popular after his unbeaten 52 earlier in the week but he is starting to really push up in salary now. Some of that is on the back of some handy overs with the ball - having success especially against left-handers - but he wasn’t used with the ball last game against the Heat. His strike rate remains on the low side so unless he gets 40+ runs he probably isn’t going to hurt you if you fade him.

 

Who Knows - Phil Salt ($14,000 on Draftstars) 

Salt has had an underwhelming BBL09 campaign bar a rapid 50 against the cellar-dwelling Renegades. However, he always remains in play as a point of difference in DFS contests because he opens the batting and has an incredibly aggressive approach to the game. He was a bit unlucky to get caught down the legside up in Brisbane but the Heat bowlers can be gettable and he doesn’t need to face many balls to hit value at his price point.

 

Bowling

 

Love It - Rashid Khan ($22,700 on Draftstars) 

Khan is clearly the most expensive player in the match but you can argue he is as good a value play as anyone. His lowest score for the season is an amazing 49, which came in his last game against the Heat. Not only is he arguably the best bowler in the competition, but he has been getting plenty of exposure with the bat at the tail end of the innings where he can hit the boundaries and boost his score off very few deliveries. Don’t let his salary be the only thing to turn you off!

 

Don’t Love It - James Pattinson ($17,000 on Draftstars) 

Pattinson is another player you may consider avoiding after his 5 wicket haul on Tuesday. He’s well known to be rather inconsistent in this short format of the game and was arguably lucky to get a few of the wickets he did, with a couple being caught down the leg side. His previous game against the Scorchers resulted in bowling figures of 0/52 so he looks a volatile type worth risking coming off a big score.

 

Who Knows - Ben Cutting ($17,900 on Draftstars) 

Cutting presents as a contrarian play here with his high price on a slate jam packed with expensive options. In his favour is the fact he bowled 4 overs against the Strikers on Tuesday, but the stability AB De Villiers brings to the middle order may reduce his opportunity with the bat. On that basis he looks an extremely volatile play but the ceiling is there to play him, especially in lineups where you look to fade the Heat top order.

 

 

 

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