Cricket betting tips: Big Bash Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers preview and best bets

Cricket betting tips: Melbourne Renegades v Adelaide Strikers

2pts Jamie Overton top Adelaide Strikers bowler at 11/2 (Betfred)

Friday’s offering from the Big Bash sees Melbourne Renegades host Adelaide Strikers in a match between two sides that should be capable of much better than we have seen from them thus far.

The Renegades in particular are a better side than a record of 0-5 would suggest, and they had reigning champions and current tournament favourites Perth Scorchers on the canvas on their own turf on Boxing Day, until making a mess of what should have been a regulation run chase.

Captain Nic Maddinson is a big problem for the hosts. His returns with the bat just don’t justify his position in a top six that can boast the likes of Quinton de Kock, Joe Clarke, Aaron Finch and the fit again Shaun Marsh.

Marsh made his first appearance of the season when stroking a typically sexy 59 from 36 against the Scorchers, and his return to full fitness is a big boost to the Renegades who ought to be a handful for anyone if playing to their potential. The bowling stacks up pretty well, too.

I was tempted to back the Renegades here at odds against, but had my fingers burned when they were beaten by Hobart Hurricanes recently and while the Strikers have more holes than a string vest in their line-up, there is quality, too, through the likes of Matt Short and Adam Hose.

Short has top scored the last twice with knocks of 82 and 55, so 11/4 about him in the top Strikers batsman market is probably fair enough. He should continue to go well, but will face a stern examination from an on-form Tom Rogers who has claimed five wickets in his last two matches with his sharp outswingers.

I’ll give that market a swerve, and Jono Wells at 11/1 was the closest I came to striking a bet in the top Renegades batsman market. He and Will Sutherland are the two designated finishers for the Renegades and the Power Surge certainly helps keep that pair in the game, even if de Kock gets off to a flyer.

For now, it’s hard to look past JAMIE OVERTON in the top Strikers bowler market, with the 11/2 on offer with Betfred way out. The general 4/1 is also fine.

The Striker’s have only played three times so far this season, but shorn of Rashid Khan and Peter Siddle from last season, the bowling attack has looked particularly light, with Overton’s five wickets at an average of 10.40 easily the best. His strike-rate of 9.6 is streets ahead of his teammates, too.

We shouldn’t really be surprised. Overton is a big, strong man capable of reaching high speeds – very much the archetypal bowler for Australian conditions.

This tough competitor has started well and there should be more to come from the Englishman as he leads an otherwise flimsy Strikers bowling attack.

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