Preview and Predictions: Hurricanes and Heat look for redemption after initial losses

George Bailey and Darren Sammy of the Hobart Hurricanes

Venue: Hobart

Time: 1340 IST

Hobart Hurricanes: The Hurricanes suffered a staggering 95-run defeat in their opening encounter with only George Bailey managing to give a good account of himself. Truth be told, the loss was probably nothing more than an aberration as the Hurricanes possess one of the best batting line-ups on display in the BBL. Boasting of a top 3 consisting of Ben Dunk, Tim Paine and Kumar Sangakkara, the Hurricanes have a trio that are masters of controlled aggressive batting.

If the top three manage to stick around for 8 or so overs, they have a highly dangerous backend consisting of former West Indian captain Darren Sammy, former Australian captain George Bailey and Aussie all-rounder Dan Christian.

They however seem to lack a bit of depth in their bowling even after having two quality all-rounders in Darren Sammy and Dan Christian. The erratic Shaun Tait is expected to lead the attack and can be wayward more often than not. However, in Cameron Boyce, they have one of the best Australian spinners on offer and he will be expected to slow things down if push comes to shove.

Brisbane Heat: The Heat, on the other hand, will take heart in their opening performances and shouldn’t be too flustered with the result not coming in their favour. Ben Cutting lived up to his reputation as a long ball hitter and James Hopes combined class well with aggression to insure that the Heat finished well in the first essay.

The Heat would have felt that they had good control over the match before White and Finch really upped the ante as they lost the game in the last over of the match. Chris Lynn is perhaps the most dangerous batsman in the BBL right now and he did his reputation no harm in the first game of the season. Burns coming off a good Test series against the trans--Tasmanian rivals completes a healthy batting quartet for the Heat.

Their bowling let them down in the first game with no real strike bowler in their setup. Badree was brilliant in his spell but none of the other bowlers barring Lalor inspire much confidence. Indeed, the Heat will back their batsmen to come up with the goods in this away encounter.

Squads

Hobart Hurricanes

GJ Bailey, CJ Boyce, BR Dunk, TD Paine*†, SL Rainbird, JK Reed, CA Rose, DJG Sammy, KC Sangakkara, SW Tait,JW Wells, D Christian

Brisbane Heat

S Badree, JA Burns, BCJ Cutting, AJ Doolan, AL Fekete, JS Floros, JR Hopes, JK Lalor, CA Lynn*, JJ Peirson†, NJ Reardon, MT Steketee

Pitch report

In the 16 games here spread over the last 4 seasons, there were 3 instances of the side batting first scoring over 200 runs. Last season, 208 was gunned down with an over to spare indicated the surface to be a batsman’s paradise. A score of 170 will probably be considered par and anything over 185 will take some getting.

Predictions

Undoubtedly going to be a high scoring encounter. With both sides lacking a bit on the bowling front and having a heavy batting unit coupled with a high scoring strip, I would initially place my bet on the side batting first and expect to make a riskless profit at the innings break. Betfair has placed the Hurricanes as firm favourites with 1.70, but as I said, it will be a safe bet to place your wagers on the side batting first, regardless of who it is.

The Heats have favourable odds of 2.1, but I am going to go with the favourites Hobart to win this one in what promises to be a high-scoring affair. Be sure to turn your bets in their favour at the innings break if the Heat happen to bat first.