Stars v Renegades BBL tips, odds & value bets – Jan 3, 2022

The first Melbourne Derby of BBL11 takes centre stage on Monday night when the undermanned Melbourne Stars take on the bottom of the table Melbourne Renegades at the MCG.

With Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Joe Burns and Beau Webster all missing through Covid-19 protocols, the Melbourne Stars were competitive against the rampant Perth Scorchers on Sunday, before crumbling in a heap due to a late order collapse. Chasing 8/180, Englishman Joe Clarke (52) and replacement player Tom Rogers (32) got the Stars off to a perfect start when combining for 78 for the first wicket. But at 3/111, the Stars would then go on to lose 7/19 in what turned out to be a dominant display from the Scorchers.

Despite being without Zampa and Coulter-Nile, the Stars welcomed back Pakistani Haris Rauf to the side with the quick picking up 2/40 in his first run of the season. With the lack of personnel at captain Glenn Maxwell’s disposal, Rauf will prove a crucial key to success if this second-string Stars side is to cause some what of an upset. With capable youngsters like Brody Couch and Qais Ahmed alongside Rauf, the Stars will be confident in restricting an underperforming Renegades batting lineup.

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With the Renegades’ last game against the Sydney Sixers being abandoned without a ball being bowled, they have had some time to stew over the deplorable batting performance against the Hobart Hurricanes. Chasing 207 to win, the Renegades were never really in the chase when losing wickets on regular occasions throughout the chase. With Aaron Finch (1) and Nic Maddinson (3) failing, it was left to the inexperienced batting order to try and get the close, which they never did. With Shaun Marsh returning to the squad for Monday’s clash, he will add a much-needed level head to this Renegades batting lineup.

It was a night to forget for most of the Gades’ bowling attack too with only Reece Topley (2/17) proving economical throughout his four over spell. Kane Richardson (0/63), Zahir Khan (0/37) and Jack Prestwidge (1/36) struggled to keep things tight and thus left the batters too much to do. With James Pattinson expected to return against the Stars, the Renegades will be hoping for an improved performance with ball in hand against a fragile Melbourne Stars batting lineup.

Online bookmakers have the Stars has slight outsiders at $2.05, with the Renegades $1.75 favourites to get just their second win of the BBL season.

Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades betting tips

Top Melbourne Renegades Run Scorer: Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch is seemingly a shadow of his former self if the last six months is anything to go by. The damaging right hander has struggled to get the ball off the square in some of his innings in recent times and outside of a 68 against Perth, he has struggled so far in BBL11. Since that knock against the Scorchers, he has made scores of 8 and 1 which is simply not what the Renegades can afford from their former skipper. The T20 World Cup winning captain will no doubt want to target this inexperienced bowling attack and make use of the short boundaries straight at the MCG, a ground he has scored plenty of runs at over the years. He is a $3.10 chance to top score for the Renegades and if he can get through his first 10 balls, then look for Finch to go large.

To take 2+ Wickets: Haris Rauf

Haris Rauf has arguably been the success story of the Big Bash over the past two seasons and is set to get back to the MCG for the first time this year. The Pakistan international has 23 wickets in his 14 games in the competition and we think he is good for a couple of wickets on Monday night. Despite the Renegades boasting the international experience of Finch, Shaun Marsh and Nic Maddinson, their middle-lower order will struggle against Rauf if exposed to it. He returned to the BBL with a spell of 2/40 against the Scorchers on Sunday and if he can clock speeds of 145km/h+ against the Gades then he will then prove to be a handful in the Melbourne Derby.