SuperCoach Plus: The key BBL stats, intel you need to know for the final rounds

The race to KFC SuperCoach BBL glory is on, with January 25’s finish line well and truly in sight. But there’s still plenty of time to make a charge – these numbers will help.

The race to KFC SuperCoach BBL glory is on, with January 25’s finish line well and truly in sight.

Starting Friday, the Heat and Scorchers play twice in Round 12, before the Hurricanes end the season with a double-game in Round 13.

In this week’s SuperCoach Plus article, we reveal key stats and form lines to help you trade your way to a big finish.

SuperCoach Plus is a treasure trove of stats and tools to help you dominate KFC SuperCoach including score and price projections, Break Evens, a complete stats archive and exclusive expert analysis articles just like this one.

Lance Morris could be a nice point-of-difference in KFC SuperCoach BBL. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

POD watch

If you need to make up ground in the final few rounds, there’s no point following those KFC SuperCoaches in front of you. Let’s start with those on the Round 12 double. Josh Inglis (93.1% of teams), Andrew Tye (89.5%) and Aaron Hardie (78.9%) are all heavily owned in the top five per cent of KFC SuperCoach teams. For a slight point-of-difference, consider Jason Behrendorff (51.6%), who has only two scores of less than 52 this summer or more unique options in Steve Eskinazi (5.2%), after the Englishman posted 81 and 91 in his past two games, and young quick Lance Morris (12.9%), who has settled back in the BBL, recording figures of 2/21 in each of his past two games.

POD watch 2

At the Heat, Michael Neser (74.8.3%), Marnus Labuschagne (59.3%), James Bazley (45.7%) and Josh Brown (42.9%) are the most-owned players by the top five per cent of KFC SuperCoaches. Usman Khawaja, while he’s yet to really fire a shot on return to the BBL, is in just 28.3 per cent of teams and is available for $38k less than his starting price following his 24-point score in Round 11. Matt Renshaw could be the one, though, with the Aussie batter leading the Heat to victory against the Stars, recording 147 KFC SuperCoach points, thanks to a brilliant 90 not out. He’s ownership is skyrocketing, but ahead of the first game of Round 12, only in 31.7 per cent of the top coaches had him. At $112k, Renshaw is great buying.

POD watch 3

Looking ahead to the final Round, Nathan Ellis (70.3%), Ben McDermott (49.6%), Matthew Wade (29.9%) and Riley Meredith (29.8%) were the most-owned Hurricanes in the top five per cent of teams ahead of Round 12. Caleb Jewell, who is second only to teammate Tim David for best strike rate of any batter to score more than 200 runs, is only in 21 per cent of teams and, with a breakeven of 138, could fall in price before the double. David himself is only in 13.7 per cent, while Englishman Zak Crawley is in just 3.7 per cent.

TRADE GUIDE: ALL THE TOP TARGETS FOR ROUND 12 DOUBLE

Matthew Renshaw in action against the Stars. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

The same idea

On the morning after lockout lifted, Renshaw was the most traded in player, with almost 3000 KFC SuperCoaches jumping on quickly. Neser, Hardie, Bazley, Behrendorff and Steve Smith were the next most popular. Thunder gun Daniel Sams and Travis head were the top two to make way. But is that the right call? Sure, you have to let someone go, and Sams did struggle again as Will Sutherland got a hold of him in the last over on Thursday night, but the Thunder star did score a round-high 145 points just a few days ago, on the back of four wickets and 16 dot balls. Double-game round or not, Sams, on his day, can go as big as any. And his top-five per cent ownership could drop below 50 soon.

Hard to leave him out, though

Sure, in-form Scorchers No. 3 Aaron Hardie is popular, as mentioned above, but, arguably, only Striker Matt Short is in better form with the bat at the moment. In his past five innings, Hardie has plundered 224 runs off 156 balls and has only been dismissed twice. He finished on 90 not out against the Hurricanes to record a season-high 115 KFC SuperCoach points. And Hardie says he’s “ready to go” with the ball again.

Short’s stuff

Speaking off Matt Short, the Strikers’ star has now scored 306 more KFC SuperCoach points than any other player this year. That’s it, that’s the line.

Sam Harper has turned things around in KFC SuperCoach BBL. Picture: Kelly Barnes/Getty Images

Harper’s rise

Usman Qadir may have got him early in Round 11, but Renegades keeper Sam Harper has turned things around. Before that, in the previous three outings, after scoring six runs in the space of four matches, Harper blasted 203, with KFC SuperCoach totals of 124, 98 and 89. Incredibly, he more than doubled his price in this period. Harper is the definition of a hit-or-miss player – as Thursday night proved again - so it would be a risk to pay overs to bring him in, but he is certainly is in form.

Weather watch

At this stage, the weather looks pretty good for most matches in Round 12. Up to 10mm of rain is forecast for Brisbane Friday but the chances of showers are “becoming less likely this evening”, which is good news for the 8pm (AEDT) clash at the GABBA between the Heat and Hurricanes. There also might be a light shower around for the Sydney Derby on Saturday night, but nothing to worry about just yet.

The final round

Remember, Hobart are the only team on the double in the final round of KFC SuperCoach BBL, which starts on Monday. And, at $149k, an in-form Tim David should be in your plans. With a -6 breakeven, however, another big score against the Heat on Friday night, could see his price explode again. The T20 slugger is averaging 66 points in the past six rounds and boasts the best strike rate of any batter with more than 200 runs in this year’s BBL, striking at 162 runs per 100 balls. He’s now bowled in Hobart’s last five games, too.

Originally published as SuperCoach Plus: The key BBL stats, intel you need to know for the final rounds