Comment below what you think the total aggregate score in this game will be for your chance to win the final author payout in SPORTS tokens from this post.
You can find the general rules and information on this competition here
Current burn and winnings stats as follows.
Form Guide
The last time these 2 teams met at this venue was in last year's final. On that day the Renegades pulled off a quite remarkable comeback against their city rivals to win their first ever BBL title. Since then they haven't won a single game of T20 cricket! By contrast their opponents have gone from strength to strength, snapping up some talent from another sinking ship in the form of Perth Scorchers and getting slightly lucky in the fact that several big name players haven't been called up to the Australian national side. At the half way stage their record of played 7 won 6 means that the Stars only need win 2 out of their final 7 games to see them through to the playoffs. However with the new format of those playoffs there is the added incentive for this side to keep going and attempt to claim one of the top 2 league spots ensuring a potentially easier passage through to a 2nd consecutive final.
The Renegades problems are further exasperated by the fact that they are losing their captain Aaron Finch and best bowler Kane Richardson to the national side. While the Stars will also lose Zampa and Handscomb to the India tour they have had the luxury of rotating key players such as Dale Steyn and Haris Rauf and generally look a side that has all bases covered.
The drop-in pitch at the Docklands is not likely to be conducive to high-scoring cricket and the outfield is quite frankly a disgrace with balls regularly stopping on its lush surface. The Stars have won their last 3 games by bowling first and limiting the opposition to sub 150 scores. If they win the toss again here I would expect a similar pattern to emerge but if the Stars bat first then they will have a chance to put pressure on a Renegades bowling line-up shorn of it's one high-quality operator.
Of course, these may all be moot points if the weather forecast holds true...
Entries for this competition close at 8:00am GMT on Friday, 10th January