Second Semi Final – 7:40pm local time on Friday, January 22, 2016 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Stars
$1.95 at WilliamHill.com
Ladder position: 2nd
Win-loss record: 5-3
BBL form: W W W L W
Perth Scorchers
$1.90 at CrownBet
Ladder position: 3rd
Win-loss record: 5-3
BBL form: W L W W L
Can Melbourne Stars finally shake their semifinal hoodoo?
That’s the question on everyone’s lips ahead of Friday’s do-or-die Twenty20 Big Bash clash at the MCG.
The Stars have reached this stage every season since the BBL’s inception in 2011, but have yet to play in the grand final.
Player availability at the business end of the campaign has been a big issue in the past, and it’s no different this time around with Scott Boland, James Faulkner, John Hastings and Glenn Maxwell all away on international duty.
But Melbourne Stars chief executive Clint Cooper suggested this week that the franchise was better prepared than ever for the inevitable absence of its big-name players.
“I think we all go in with eyes wide open that the Australian players, once they get selected, are ‘quarantined’, for want of a better word, out of the system,” he told the press on Tuesday.
“Having known that, over the past couple of years we’ve worked towards developing a squad that was capable of fulfilling those roles.”
That assertion is backed up by the performances of the Stars’ relief crew in the last two matches, with allrounder Evan Gulbis and swing bowler Daniel Worrall putting in excellent shifts in their first appearances of the season.
Cooper added: “We’d love to have them – but who would you drop out after the performances of ‘Frankie’ [Worrall] and [Ben] Hilfenhaus on the weekend?”
Both Worrall and Hilfenhaus starred in the 52-run victory over Perth Scorchers at the WACA in the final round of the qualifying phase last Saturday, which guaranteed a home final in Melbourne.
However, history is against the Stars, who have fallen to the Scorchers in three out of four semifinal appearances.
The West Australians have reached every BBL decider to date and are now aiming at their third consecutive title, but they will have to improve radically on last weekend’s display if they wish to complete that hat-trick.
Chasing a very reachable target of 147 on their own patch, Justin Langer’s charges were rumbled for only 94 runs – their lowest-ever innings total in the T20 Big Bash.
Perth, like their opposition, are missing key players through international obligations, with opening bat Shaun Marsh and allrounder Mitchell Marsh both unavailable.
But they will regain left-arm seamer Joel Paris, who was released from Australia’s ODI squad, while star paceman Jason Behrendorff is also expected to return after sitting out the last match with back soreness.
This contest will take on extra importance should Adelaide Strikers lose to Sydney Thunder on Thursday, as the victor will earn the right to host the decider.
Match predictions and betting tips
Result – Melbourne Stars to win ($1.95 at CrownBet)
Most match sixes – Perth Scorchers ($2.20 at William Hill)
Total match sixes – Under 11 ($1.90 at Bet365)
There is hardly a cigarette paper between these two in the BBL05 semifinal betting markets.
Perth have the runs on the board, having reached four finals out of four, but Melbourne’s home ground advantage could turn the tide.
The Scorchers haven’t tasted victory at the MCG since the inaugural T20 Big Bash League season in 2011-12, while the Stars have won 14 of 19 home games since then.
The question is whether the hosts have enough tried-and-true quality to back up last week’s upset win at the WACA.
Gulbis and Worrall have performed superbly in the absence of Faulkner and Boland, while Hilfenhaus has also lifted his game.
Can they handle the pressure in front of 50,000-plus at the ‘G?
Adam Voges betting markets
Back in action after a superb summer with the Australian Test team, the Scorchers’ skipper was a beacon of class and maturity in an otherwise dreadful batting display last weekend.
Not only was Voges the only man in Perth’s top six to reach double digits, his 46 not out was one run short of comprising exactly half their innings total.
The Marsh brothers were sorely missed in that match, while the decision to drop Marcus Harris and promote allrounder David Willey to the top of the order backfired horrendously.
Regardless of how they line up on Friday, Voges will have a pivotal part to play if the Scorchers are to move any closer to snaring their third straight Big Bash League title.
Man of the match – $10
Top Perth Scorchers batsman – $4
Top match batsman – $7.60
Top Perth Scorchers bowler – $26
Top match bowler – $49
To outscore Carberry, Handscomb and Pietersen – $3.20
To outscore Klinger and Stoinis – $2.70
Top team batsman and Scorchers win – $7.50
Top team batsman and Stars win – $7.50
