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The Hobart Hurricanes will take on the Melbourne Stars in the 19th match of the Big Bash League 2021 at the Bellerive Oval on December 23.
The Hurricanes, led by Matthew Wade, have had their troubles in the ongoing edition of the T20 tournament. Having lost three out of their four games, they are placed seventh in the points table. The Hurricanes' net run rate of -0.833 is not amongst the best by any stretch of imagination.
They will go into the next game after back-to-back losses at the hands of the Perth Scorchers.
On December 20, the Hurricanes suffered a 42-run loss at the hands of the Scorchers. After electing to bat first, the Ashton Turner-led Scorchers racked up a decent score of 167 for seven on the board.
Kurtis Patterson’s 48-ball 78 with six fours and five sixes blew the Hurricanes away. Jordan Thompson picked up three wickets, giving away 33 runs in his quota of four overs. Thomas Rogers also accounted for two scalps. Thereafter, the Hurricanes could only manage 125 for nine.
Will Parker scored an unbeaten 17-ball 25 while batting at No.10, but his efforts were never going to be enough for the Hurricanes to win. Andrew Tye picked up three wickets for 19 runs and made sure that the Hurricanes couldn’t garner any sort of momentum in their innings.
The Stars, on the other hand, had garnered back-to-back wins over the Sydney Thunder but a seven-wicket loss to the Sydney Sixers in their most recent match pushed them back to quite some extent. The Stars' net run rate of -1.643 is also the worst amongst all the teams.
After being put in to bat first by the Sixers in their last game, the Stars scored 177 for five. Glenn Maxwell came to the party and smashed a 57-ball 103, laced with 12 fours and three sixes.
The Sixers chased the target down in 19.4 overs after Josh Philippe made an unbeaten 61-ball 99 with 11 fours and two sixes.
Can the Hurricanes (HUR) beat the Stars (STA)?
The Stars and Hurricanes have had similar fortunes thus far in the tournament. The Hurricanes have shown sparks of brilliance, but haven’t been consistent enough.
The Stars haven’t been in the greatest of rhythms either. But they seem to be slight favorites for the next match.
Prediction: Melbourne Stars to win the match.
