Adelaide Strikers will hope to kickstart their disappointing Big Bash campaign when they travel to the Marvel Stadium to face Melbourne Renegades on Thursday evening.
The Strikers, 1.91 for victory, will assess the fitness of captain Matthew Short, who has a broken toe, and they have lost four of their first five games in 2024/25.
The Renegades have won two and lost two of their first four matches under new skipper Will Sutherland and they also triumphed in their last two meetings with the Strikers.
After losing three of their first four Big Bash matches, Adelaide Strikers suffered a horror start to their home clash with Perth Scorchers on New Year's Eve.
The Perth pace bowlers reduced their hosts to 8-58 in the 11th over and it took a Big Bash record ninth-wicket partnership of 84 to drag the Strikers to a total of 8-142.
Number nine Brendan Doggett finished unbeaten on 47 while Cameron Boyce, batting at number 10, made 29 not out before the Scorchers comfortably chased down their target, losing only three wickets.
Doggett is 101.00 to repeat his Top Batter heroics against Melbourne Renegades but the Strikers need their senior batsmen to step up, especially if Matthew Short, the leading runscorer in last season's Big Bash, is not fit enough to play.
Veteran Chris Lynn, 4.00 to top-score for Adelaide, smashed 56 off 34 balls in last season's three-wicket defeat to the Renegades at the Marvel Stadium.
However, opener D'Arcy Short could hold the key for the out-of-form visitors. He also made a half-century in last term's Melbourne loss and, after scores of 60, one, 41 and 22 this season, is 4.00 to score a fifty on Thursday.
Jake Fraser-McGurk was the Renegades' matchwinner against the Strikers last season, blasting a 37-ball 70, but the destructive opener has been short of runs this season.
Fraser-McGurk has scored 21, five, two and 26 in his first four innings while opening partner Josh Brown, who starred in Brisbane Heat's 2023/24 Big Bash success, has been dismissed for 22, 13, 12 and 22.
The Renegades are 2.10 not to score a fifty in the match and that could be worth a bet given that their highest individual scores in their first four outings were 55, 37 not out, 30 and 40.
They chased down 144 to beat the Scorchers in their first game at the Marvel Stadium despite stumbling from 3-96 to 8-140 and Jacob Bethell's 30 was the top score in that innings.
Bethell's fellow Englishman Laurie Evans is worth considering at 4.75 to hit the most sixes for the Renegades.
He struck one against the Scorchers - Bethell hit two - and followed up with four maximums in a low-scoring eight-run defeat to Sydney Thunder last time out.
The 37-year-old Evans also had a superb campaign for Perth in 2023/24, hitting 16 sixes from the 154 balls he faced in the competition.
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Melbourne Renegades - 1.91
Adelaide Strikers - 1.91
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.