BBL 7, Match 36 : Sydney Sixers vs Melbourne Stars – Match Predictions

The Match 36 of Big Bash League (BBL) season 7 which is scheduled to be played between Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars at the Sydney Cricket Ground is a dead rubber as neither of the two teams has an opportunity to make it to the semis now, but the Stars will definitely be looking to avenge the humiliating loss that they suffered at the hands of the Sixers when they played them at MCG a few days back.

It was a one sided game with the Sixers absolutely thumping the Stars by 8 wickets on a sluggish batting surface. The Stars were not happy with the nature of the wicket as quite a few of their players complained that the surface was not ideal at all for T20 cricket. It will be interesting to see what kind of a pitch the Sixers dish out to their opponents as they host them for tomorrow’s fixture which is expected to be a cracking one.

Pitch Report

The pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground generally is low and slow but decent for batting. The spinners get a bit of grip and turn and it turns more as the game progresses, so it’s likely that the team winning the toss will want to bat first.

Sydney Sixers

The Sixers don’t have any reason to make changes in their playing XI. The current combination is doing well for them in all facets of the game and it should be an unchanged line-up taking the ground tomorrow in what will be their last game of the season.

While it didn’t turn out to be as good a season for the men in pink as they would have liked, they have found some good momentum in the latter stages of the tournament and they will be keen to finish it on a high.

Predicted XI: Johan Botha (C), Moises Henriques, Joe Denly, Nic Maddinson, Peter Nevill, Nathan Lyon, Carlos Brathwaite, Sean Abbott, Daniel Hughes, Jordan Silk, Ben Dwarshuis

Melbourne Stars

The Stars, on the other hand, will not want the embarrassment of an 8th placed finish and in order to avoid that, they need to win their last two games with big margins. They may want to strengthen their spin attack considering the nature of SCG surface and if that’s the case, Michael Beer will partner Liam Bowe who has been in brilliant form with the ball in the last few games. The skinny chinaman spinner seems to be blessed with a truckload of talent and he is the one Stars will ban on to make a match-winning difference.

Predicted XI: Kevin Pietersen, John Hastings (C), Jackson Coleman, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Rob Quiney, Evan Gulbis, Peter Handscomb, Michael Beer, Seb Gotch, Liam Bowe

Here’s what we, at CricTracker predict will be the final result:

Head to Head Record

Total Matches Played – 6 | Melbourne Stars won – 3 | Sydney Sixers won – 2 | Tie- 1 (Won by Stars in Super Over)

Probable Top Performers

Nic Maddinson (Sydney Sixers) | Liam Bowe (Melbourne Stars)

Broadcast Details

TV – SonyESPN

Online – SonyLIV

Match Timings

The game starts at 2:10 PM, IST

The prediction is for the Sydney Sixers to win the game.