Hobart Hurricanes vs Adelaide Strikers Match 8, Prediction

December 13: Match Preview and Odds

It is the second double-header of this Big Bash season as Adelaide Strikers take on Hobart Hurricanes at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. This is the first game of the season for Adelaide Strikers and the second one for Hobart Hurricanes.

Hobart Hurricanes have started this tournament with a win. They beat the defending champions Sydney Sixers by 16 runs as they made a superb comeback with the ball after being down and out at one stage.

Last season, both of these sides made it to the knockouts but did not reach the final and lost in their respective first knockout fixtures. While Adelaide Strikers finished third, Hobart Hurricanes ended up fourth after the league stages. Adelaide Strikers were a lot more consistent, while Hobart couldn’t really gather any sort of big momentum. However, both teams lost in their respective knockout games against Sydney Thunder.

For this season, Hobart have had a slew of changes, while Adelaide Strikers have retained more or less the same side with a few changes here and there. Moreover, this game will be played at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart which is a high-scoring ground. In 2020, the average score batting first in T20s at this venue is almost 190.

December 15: Match Preview and Odds

In the space of just a little more than 48 hours, Hobart Hurricanes and Adelaide Strikers will square off in their reverse fixture. It is the first reverse fixture of this 10^th edition of the Big Bash League.

Moreover, this game will be played at a different venue. The Aurora Stadium located in Launceston, Tasmania will host this fixture. In fact, this game is one of the only two encounters which will be played at the Aurora Stadium in Launceston. The other game that will be played at this venue is going to be Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Stars which is scheduled for 16 December.

This has been a pretty high-scoring venue and in the T20 games that have been played in 2020, the average score batting first is 186. But in 2018 and 2019, the average score batting first was 107 and 119 respectively. However, the sample size is not too big. Thus, it’ll be interesting to see what the pitch has in store for this game.

This will be the third game for Hobart Hurricanes. On the other hand, this will be just the second game for the Adelaide Strikers.

Match Predictions

Adelaide Strikers are ahead in the race when the head-to-head record is considered as they lead 8-5 over Hobart Hurricanes. However, with Hobart making a good comeback and a neck-and-neck record in the last few years evens out the contest. The winning odds might be at even stevens, currently placed at 1.912. With the Australia ‘A’ game against India finishing on 13 December and other big players picked for the four-match Test series (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) against India, both Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes will be missing a few players for their first game. However, there is a possibility that both teams might be rejigged for their reverse fixture which will be played on 18 December. Thus, this might well be a pretty tight contest and a mouth-watering one as both teams seem to stack up well. Therefore, it may well be a neck-and-neck contest going into the game.

Summary

Both teams Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes have decent depth in their squads. But it is Adelaide who are on top when it comes to their head-to-head record. They dominated the early part of the rivalry as they lost just one game in the first five seasons. However, the Adelaide-Hobart rivalry has been a pretty closely contested one in the last few years. Hobart Hurricanes have come back strongly after the early dominance from Adelaide Strikers and closed the gap. In fact, in the last four seasons, the record stands at 5-4 in favour of Adelaide.