December 29: Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers in Melbourne
Our XI: Jake Weatherald, Alex Carey, Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch, Matthew Short, Beau Webster, Dan Christian, Harry Conway, Rashid Khan, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake
NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about a late injury (or other relevant) updates
Captain: Jake Weatherald
The Renegades bowlers have been off-colour so far and Weatherald’s explosive 83 in the last game makes him the hottest prospect for captain. He can’t be ignored anyway, and if you are picking him, might as well go all in.
Vice-captain: Shaun Marsh
With a top order short on confidence, the Renegades will bank on their top-scorer so far yet again. With scores of 37, 55 and 42, he is dependable and is a safe pick for vice-captaincy.
Hot picks
Alex Carey
We’d push for Carey to be a captaincy option had it not been for his batting position – No. 4. His fifty against the Perth Scorchers was a quick one, and you can bank on his reliability for points.
Aaron Finch
The only batsman apart from Marsh who is reliable enough as far as the Renegades are concerned. Finch’s team has lost three in three, but Finch looked good so far, especially in scoring 50 in the last game.
Rashid Khan
A no-brainer. Your first bowler on the list. Rashid has 40 wickets in his last two seasons plus the two games this season. He loves it in the BBL, and you might want to consider him for captaincy too, especially after the three-for in the last game.
Value picks
Beau Webster: He showed his class in Perth with a 37-ball 67 and we haven’t seen anybody from the Renegades striking the ball so good this BBL.
Harry Conway: A five-for in his last Sheffield Shield game, and then 2 for 32 in the Strikers’ win over the Perth Scorchers – Conway is in good wicket-taking form.
Point to note
The Strikers batsmen are hot prospects against a bowling side that is looking out of sorts at the moment. The average first-innings score at this ground is 141, so middle-order batsmen and batting allrounders could do well.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo