The Australian domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League, proved so successful in its first seven years, that this year’s tournament was extended.
The 2018-19 edition gives all eight teams the chance to play all of their opponents home and away, with the result that the competition has been extended well into February. But all the indications have been that the newly enlarged Big Bash League has been just as popular as ever with the Australian public.
And a new-look tournament has featured a new contender for the title in Hobart Hurricanes. The men in purple have twice reached the final, in 2014, when they were beaten by Perth, and last year, when they fell short against Adelaide. But this time round there is a new purpose to the Hurricanes, and with two games to go before the play-offs, Hobart are leading the way, one of three teams who have already guaranteed their place in the knock-out stages.
Hobart were not regarded as strong contenders prior to the tournament, and the implied probabilities on the bigbetbookmakers.com site rated them as fourth favourites to win the Big Bash League for the first time, but they have defied the odds with a string of impressive performances. Eight victories from their first nine games gave them a commanding lead at the top of the table, and although they have slipped up a couple of times, they have clearly been the team of the tournament so far.
Top order batting is a clear strength for the Hurricanes, and their unheralded opening partnership between former Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and big hitting D’Arcy Short has dominated most bowling attacks this season, to the extent that Short and Wade occupy the top two spots in the batting charts. But they have also been powered by some wily and varied bowling, from the tournament’s second leading wicket taker James Faulkner and express pace man Joffra Archer.
The main challengers to the Hurricanes so far have been the Sydney Sixers and the Melbourne Renegades and both teams have also booked their play-off spots with a game to go. The Sixers have not been consistent, but they have benefitted from the most dangerous bowling attack in the competition, and pace bowler Sean Abbott, England international all-rounder Tom Curran and wily spinner Steve O’Keefe all feature among the tournament’s top five wicket takers.
But the Renegades have a bowling threat of their own in the Big Bash League’s top wicket-taker, Kane Richardson, who despite only appearing in 10 of the Renegades’ first 13 games, had taken 19 wickets thanks to his array of white ball variations. Their batting has occasionally let them down, but the Renegades have been kept alive by contributions from an array of batsmen, and their impressive team spirit will make them hard to beat in the play-offs.
One team we definitely won’t be seeing in the knock-out stages are the pre-tournament favourites Perth Scorchers. The three-time winners and five-time finalists were widely tipped to dominate again this time round, but they lost five of their first six and despite showing some improved form in January, they had left themselves too much work to do to make the top four.
