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It’s a top-of-the-table clash to round off a dramatic BBL11 week as the Sydney Sixers take on the Perth Scorchers in Coffs Harbour on Sunday night at 7:15pm AEDT. After the previous scheduled match in Coffs was a washout, the locals will be looking forward to seeing some cricket, but it seems that the weather is the least of the worries for the BBL at the moment.

Draftstars are powering through the BBL season with another huge $25,000 guaranteed contest for this match. There's also an assortment of high rollers, minis and micros to suit every budget!

It’s a shame, but this match is also set to be impacted by Covid-related absences. Four of the Sydney Sixers have been identified as positive cases. It was rumoured that Sean Abbott and Moises Henriques are among those, but both have been named in the 17-man squad at the time of writing. Bowlers Shadab Khan and Lawrence Neil-Smith are back in the squad, while Justin Avendano has been named as a replacement player for the injured Steve O’Keefe, despite playing for the Melbourne Stars earlier in the week! James Vince is a big loss as he heads back to England to link up with their T20 international side.

It remains to be seen what the lineups look like, but the Sixers will be keen for revenge after going down when the two teams clashed in a hastily put together match on Tuesday night. The Scorchers could only make 143 but they were able to defend it as the Sixers top order again failed. It was left to all-rounder Dan Christian to shoulder the responsibility with 73 (61) to go with 2-14 (4) with the ball. Josh Philippe has missed out recently and will be keen to get back among the runs after starting the season so brilliantly.

Hayden Kerr has been an improver this season for the Sixers and picked up 4-32 (4) against the Scorchers. He’s also useful with the bat, so becomes a very relevant fantasy play at a good price. If Abbott is out, then look to Ben Dwarshius and Jackson Bird to step up with the ball.

The Scorchers are sitting pretty on top of the ladder, despite dropping their most recent match against the Sydney Thunder. The Scorchers are definitely missing the match-winning abilities of Mitch Marsh who remains with the Australian Test squad. Their batting remains a little questionable, outside of Colin Munro (UPDATE - Out due to COVID). Kurtis Patterson has looked good at times, but it’s only been cameos from the rest. Fortunately Ashton Agar and Aaron Hardie are making some useful runs lower down the order and become useful fantasy picks with their all-round abilities.

Tymal Mills is also heading back to England, but the Scorchers have superb bowling depth. Jason Behrendorff should return after being rested last match (UPDATE - Out due to being a Close contact with Colin Munro), with Matthew Kelly, Lance Morris and Andrew Tye in support, along with the enigmatic spinner Peter Hatzoglou. This really only leaves a bare 12 man squad for the match. Expect replacements annoucned before the match. 

The odds for the match and strategies for the contest will be very dependent upon the Sixers lineup and who is missing due to Covid isolation, which we may not know until closer to the match. Keep an eye on our Twitter feed for the latest news on team announcements!

Looking for Draftstars scores from previous editions from the BBL? Our Free Players Logs + Ground Fantasy breakdowns are now available in our BBL11 Data Tools

Love It - Lance Morris ($9,500)

Lance Morris looks a good budget pick for this game to free up some budget. Normally the Sixers are pretty solid, but their top order has been a crumbling heap recently, and with some players set to miss with Covid (we’re unsure who at this stage), it might open up opportunity for Morris to get some early wickets with the new ball in the absence of Tymal Mills. Love it even more now that Behrendorff is now out for this match.

Love It - Sean Abbott ($19,500)

When news broke that Colin Munro will be out for this match tonight, I immediately wanted to go to Sean Abbott as one of the best BBL players in the history of the league. Finding that $2,000 more than Munro means some sacrfices elsewhere, but the Scorchers are now short and this presents as a great opportunity for Abbott to make some damage.  

Don’t Love It - Ashton Turner ($11,600)

Ashton Turner was once-upon-a-time the finisher for Australia in T20s, but he seems a long way from that at the moment. Batting down the order, not scoring runs, and not bowling, is not a great combination for fantasy scoring.

Don’t Love It - Cam Bancroft ($12,800)

Another former international player, Cam Bancroft doesn’t seem to be at his best at the moment. Can usually grind our a few runs, but his scoring rate isn’t too flash at the moment. Will have a tough time of it against Jackson Bird and co, so I’m happy to give him a miss.

Who Knows - Sydney Sixers

At the time of writing, we have a 17-man squad for the Sixers and knowledge that four of them are out with Covid. It makes it pretty hard to write too much about their players, not knowing who is in and who is out. Make a call closer to start time when final teams are announced and adjust accordingly!

Draftstars Suggested Lineup

Lineup published before final squads/teams announced

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