MLR vs SYD Match Prediction & Betting Tips - Feb 15, 2019

The Melbourne Renegades and the Sydney Sixers are going to be taking on each other in the second BBL 08 semi-final. It is a contest that most people expected to take place at the Sydney Sixers home ground but a crushing defeat to the Melbourne Stars spoiled the net run-rate of the Sixers.

Now, it is the Melbourne Renegades that are going to have the home advantage. Both sides will have all the Australian test players available to them to assemble their strongest possible playing eleven. The Melbourne Renegades are going to be without Mohammad Nabi for the BBL Finals while the Sydney Sixers will be without Tom Curran and that is definitely a big loss.

There are match winners on both sides and we are just hopeful of a pitch that allows for some exciting cricket to be played.

MLR vs SYD Team Previews

Melbourne Renegades

It is interesting to see the Melbourne Renegades finish second on the BBL League standings even though their batting never really seemed to fire. Aaron Finch has not been able to turn his poor summer around as yet but the BBL semi-final could be the perfect place for him to get back into prime form building up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

He is a proven match winner and we think he will rise to the occasion.

The Renegades have been quite flexible with their batting lineup and plenty of changes have been made to the top order. Sam Harper, Tom Cooper, and Mackenzie Harvey are some of the players that have got a go.

Marcus Harris is going to open the batting and will be another player to watch out for. Harris made his debut for Australia this summer but has not really made the opening spot his own. Some runs in the summer leading up the ICC World Cup 2019 and the Ashes are going to be helpful for his cause.

The batting has been suspect for the Melbourne Renegades in BBL 08 and it was the middle order which bailed them out on more than one occasion. Players like Mohammad Nabi and Daniel Christian were the ones doing the work in the middle order and without Nabi, the pressure on Christian is going to be even more.

As far as the strength for the Melbourne Renegades, it has clearly been its bowling.

Kane Richardson is the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 24 wickets to his name and has been well supported by Chris Tremain, Daniel Christian, Harry Gurney, and Cameron Boyce. Losing Mohammad Nabi means losing a player that could contribute with both bat and ball. His loss is going to alter the balance of the side and just put that extra bit of pressure on everyone else.

Melbourne Renegades Playing 11

Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Sam Harper, CL White, Mackenzie Harvey, TLW Cooper, DT Christian, Cameron Boyce, KW Richardson, CP Tremain, Harry Gurney.


Sydney Sixers

The Sydney Sixers opted to go with six bowlers in the previous match as they brought back Nathan Lyon into the playing eleven. That meant that Tom Curran was batting at 6 and Sean Abbott at 7. These are places that are too high for both the batsmen and made the Sydney Sixers susceptible to a collapse.

This is exactly what happened in the previous match and the Sydney Sixers were bowled out for 74.

In the BBL semi-final, we expect the Sydney Sixers to drop Lloyd Pope and add another batsman to augment their lineup. Tom Curran is also not going to be available for the Sixers and that will mean adding another seamer to the lineup also, unless they decide to go in with three spinners.

Dropping Lloyd Pope is not going to weaken their bowling too much. Sean Abbott, Nathan Lyon, Ben Dwarshius, and Steve O Keefe are still a formidable bowling attack. The lineup would be well aware of the problems that the Melbourne Renegades have been facing and will be targeting their top-players.

We believe that the Sydney Sixers have been good without being brilliant in with their batting or bowling. Players like Daniel Hughes, James Vince, Moises Henriques, and Jordan Silk have had good matches with the bat and some terrible ones.

It will be down to Vince and Hughes to lay down the platform in this match. The Sydney Sixers may be up against a faltering batting lineup but their own form has been pretty inconsistent also.

Sydney Sixers Playing 11

Josh Philippe, Daniel Hughes, J Vince, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Jack Edwards, Sean Abbott, Steve O'Keefe, Nathan Michael Lyon, B Dwarshuis, Mickey Edwards.

MLR vs SYD Toss Prediction

The side winning the toss is likely to want to field first

Read our guide on toss predictions to learn how we analyze and come up with our tips.

Pitch and Conditions

The Big Bash League semi-final between the Melbourne Renegades and the Sydney Sixers is going to be played at the Docklands Stadium, Melbourne. The weather is expected to be very good for cricket on match day. Sunny skies and no threat of rain has been forecast.

The pitch is going to attract a lot of attention ahead of this match. The playing surface at the Docklands Stadium has not been good for batting. It has been slow, offered help to the spinners, and made ball striking difficult.

This is not what we want to see for a BBL semi-final but it looks like that’s what we will get.

MLR vs SYD Betting Tips

The loss of Tom Curran is a bigger loss to the Sydney Sixers than the loss of Mohammad Nabi is to the Melbourne Renegades. Both sides have an inconsistent batting lineup but the Sydney Sixers are perhaps better in that regard. The Melbourne Renegades are a much better bowling lineup and will be playing in front of their home crowd as well.

Back the Melbourne Renegades to win.

Today Match Prediction

Melbourne Renegades To Win the Match, 1.80

Bet Tip Here

Who will win MLR vs SYD

Melbourne Renegades 67.8% (654)
Sydney Sixers 32.2% (311)
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