daily fantasy sports articles

The second installment of the Sydney Derby takes place on Saturday night and we’ll be hoping for another Super Over thriller. It’s an interesting time for both sides after recent poor performances. The Sixers haven’t played a game since the big Stoin took full control against their bowlers at the MCG. Meanwhile, the Thunder have fallen to 6th on the ladder and lost to the winless Renegades last time out. 

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 $20,000 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 Sydney Showground is a venue that offers a bit of both for batsman and bowlers. As such, the last game played here saw the Hurricanes post 162/6 in their first innings and the Thunder chased it down with 2 balls remaining. In the last 10 games at the Sydney Showground, it ranks right in the middle of all BBL venues and bowlers have scored 200 points compared to 190 for batsmen. Unfortunately, the weather is going to be a problem in Sydney once again after Thursday’s abandoned match at the SCG. There’s a 60-70% chance of rain during game time on Saturday night and the possibility of a thunderstorm.

It’s a huge game for the Sydney Thunder and it starts with their top 3 getting off to a good start with the bat. Khawaja is out of form but Alex Hales has scored 20+ runs in his last 4 innings after a slow start to BBL09. Callum Ferguson hasn’t delivered with the bat lately but this seems like a favourable matchup for the Thunder captain to find some form. Alex Ross is batting beautifully in the middle order and that should continue if the Thunder lose early wickets. But they do have problems in the late overs as Sams / Morris are inconsistent. They also dropped Gilkes for Lenton, which was fairly predictable. In the bowling department, Bowe and McAndrew should be popular cheap plays once again. The question is who will take the wickets out of Morris or Sams. Nair is a pretty easy fade at the moment and Cook will probably be low owned at the $15k mark when you can pick O’Keefe around the same price.

Starting with the Sixers batting, Daniel Hughes has been very consistent after scoring 17+ runs in 6 straight games. Philippe is always a bit hit or miss depending on the game situation as the aggressive opener. He’s scored 80+ 2 successful run chases this season but overall has been pretty disappointing. Vince is an easy fade at the moment at a high price tag of $17k. Moises Henriques has been a consistent performer in this middle order with 41 runs in 2 of his last 3 innings. Avendano’s position in the team is a bit concerning considering he batted 7 and didn’t bowl in the last game. So it’s a case of waiting for the coin toss to see if he’s worth a lineup spot. Without Hazlewood and Abbott, the pressure is on Bird and Dwarshuis with the new ball. Dwarshuis has been a good fantasy performer this season but he did save an embarrassing bowling performance against the Stars with 42 off 17 with the bat. O’Keefe should be a popular pick considering the Thunder can struggle with spin and he can take early wickets against Khawaja and/or Hales. Pope can likely be faded now that O’Keefe is back as well.

Not much will separate the two sides in terms of betting as the Sixers are just favourites at this stage. After their last meeting at the SCG, we could be in for another close finish as the two rivals fight for a spot in the BBL09 finals. 

Access our FREE Data Tools for Saturday's BBL Matchup here

Batsmen

Love it – Alex Ross ($14,000 Draftstars)

Continues to be an underrated and under-priced batsman for the Thunder in what has been an impressive season by Ross in the middle order. He’s coming off a stylish 51 off 27 against the Renegades as he almost stole the game away from Melbourne. Previously, he scored 32 off 22 at this venue and has only scored under 20 fantasy points once this season (1 out of 9).

Don’t Love It? – Usman Khawaja ($17,700 Draftstars)

Uzzie is simply not delivering at the moment and will be a fade for mine. He’s coming a disappointing 4th ball duck against the Renegades and has a low ceiling of 35 in his last 5 BBL games. The Sixers should deploy spin against him early and that could mean trouble for the out of form Thunder star. 

Who Knows? – Callum Ferguson ($17,200 Draftstars)

His form has really fallen away lately but you do have to consider he was incredibly unlucky to be run out against the Renegades on Wednesday. So he’ll be low owned after scores of 7,7,37,5 and 19 in his last 5 games. However, if we’re playing into the theory of Khawaja getting out early, Callum should get plenty of batting time. We know his ceiling of 100+ when he faces over 44 balls so could be worth the risk.

Bowlers

Love it – Liam Bowe ($11,000 Draftstars)

The Wizard is the biggest beneficiary of Chris Green’s bowling suspension after two impressive performances for the Thunder. He debuted with 37 points against the ‘Canes where he picked up a wicket and a nice economy rate of 6.66. Then, he dominated the Renegades middle order with 4 overs, 2 wickets and a 5.75 economy for a score of 62 points. Still well priced at $11k and should enjoy bowling on this wicket.

Don’t Love it – Lloyd Pope ($12,600 Draftstars)

The return of Steve O’Keefe is a major problem for Pope’s scoring potential. He bowled just 3 overs at the MCG on Sunday and finished with -1 points. He’s still cheap enough to take a risk on and his 3 wicket haul against the Thunder is worth mentioning. However, the O’Keefe factor is big and we’d prefer to select Bowe instead.

Who Knows? – Tom Curran ($19,000 Draftstars)

It’s hard to forget the heroics of Curran in the Sixers Super Over victory over the Thunder earlier this season. He took 2 wickets with the ball, saved the Sixers with 35 off 17 in the late overs and successfully bowled them to victory in the Super Over. His sheer involvement in the game is usually worth the risk. But it can depend on your confidence with the Sixers batting lineup if he’ll see much batting time. When he’s scored 20+ runs, he’ll potentially score 90+ points. But in 3 of his last 4 games, he’s scored around 20 points and will cost you a lot of salary if that happens again.