SuperCoach BBL Bible: Round 13

Well, here we go — the final full round of the season is ahead of us, and the season is still wide open with four games to go. But what does it mean for your SuperCoach BBL side?

HOBART, AUSTRALIA — FEBRUARY 07: Matthew Wade of the Hurricanes leads Jofra Archer and Hurricanes players from the field after winning the Hurricanes v Renegades Big Bash League Match at Blundstone Arena on February 07, 2019 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

WHAT WE LEARNED 

Well, here we go — the final full round of the season is ahead of us, and the season is still wide open with four games to go.

SUPERCOACH BBL: MAKE YOUR TEAM CHANGES NOW!

The Hurricanes are certainties to finish atop the table, with the Sixers and the Renegades currently sitting behind them. The ‘Gades have finished their regular season, ending up with eight wins and currently sit third on the table and alongside the Sixers are guaranteed finals action, but there are three sides battling it out to secure the final spot in the finals, with the makeup of the semi-finals still far from certain.

Ultimately, it will all come down to the Stars — with two games remaining, if they win one they are guaranteed a spot, but the pressure will be on this evening, with the Heat desperate to get the two points to give them a chance of finals action.

In fact, if the Stars win both games — against the Heat this evening and then on Sunday against the Sixers — then they are an outside chance of getting a home final if they can give their two opponents an absolute belting and improve their net run rate to such a point that they leapfrog the Sixers and the Renegades and slide into second spot.

The Thunder need to hope that the Heat do the business this evening and then Hurricanes have an off night against them on Saturday, allowing them to jump the Stars and the Heat into the final slot in the finals.

D'Arcy Short and Matthew Wade of the Hurricanes have had a monster BBL|08 season

But, from a SuperCoach perspective, the most important news is that all of the players picked for the ODI series against India are available for the remainder of the Big Bash season, including late call-up Matthew Wade, who absolutely teed off against the Renegades last night, setting up the ‘Canes to finish atop the BBL|08 ladder.

TOP SCORERS OF ROUND 12

1. Matthew Renshaw — 183 vs the Strikers
2. D’Arcy Short — 143 vs the Renegades
3. Ashton Turner — 119 vs the Stars
4. Matthew Kelly — 114 vs the Stars
5. Glenn Maxwell — 112 vs the Scorchers

LOOKING AHEAD TO ROUND 13  

START ‘EM  

If you can get them in, the time is now to back the Stars’ stars in — all of Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Dwayne Bravo play twice this round, meaning that they’ll have double point scoring opportunities.

Despite coming third in the top scoring players for last round, Ash Turner’s price actually fell by $5,600, and with his Dual Position Player availability, he is a tasty option at less than $100,000.

The same is true of retiring Kiwi veteran Brendon McCullum, who could be making his last appearance this evening for the Heat — you wouldn’t put it past Chris Lynn’s Bash Brother to absolutely go bananas against the Stars, and at just $93,000 — about $20,000 less than his season starting price — he is someone to look at to build out your batting ranks.

The Hurricanes’ Afghani spinner Qais Ahmed scored 70 points on debut, and is still cheap as chips at $72,800 — given that the Hurricanes are guaranteed two more appearances for the season to come, he’s a serious downgrade option in the bowling ranks.

Brendon McCullum of the Heat will be looking to finish his Big Bash career with a bang

SIT ‘EM 

The Renegades have the bye this week, so it’s time to use the trade option on the likes of Kane Richardson and Dan Christian — if you have both of them, that’s nearly $430,000 of salary cap that can be reinvested into Round 13 playing ranks.

Shane Watson and Daniel Sams from the Thunder have gone cold — Watson’s three round average is a disastrous 17.3 points per game, with his monster 158 points in Round 8 long since forgotten. Elsewhere, Shaun Marsh is likely to miss the final Scorchers game of the regular season with a hamstring niggle, so if you have him, trade him in now.

Adelaide Strikers’ South African import Colin Ingram has called time on his BBL|08 season, and will miss the final game of the Strikers’ season on Saturday. Once it was clear that the Strikers were out of finals action, the decision was made that he would head home, with his wife close to term and his daughter due to start school. Ingram made 333 runs in 13 innings this season with three 50s at a strike rate of 138.75, and averaged 44.4 SuperCoach points per game with a top Round 7 score of 155 points. He finishes his year priced at $117,100.

Dwayne Bravo of the Stars — can he finish the season with a swing as a SuperCoach skipper?

CAPTAIN’S CORNER

If you are lucky enough to have the Stars’ Marcus Stoinis, whose price has soared nearly $120,000 from season start to $346,500 from a mere nine games, then have no fear about whacking the armband on him this round.

Other Stars’ captaincy options could be Maxwell and Bravo. The West Indian short form specialist has had an up and down season — he failed miserably last round, only managing 3 SuperCoach points, but the 184 he managed in Round 10 is still fresh in the memory, and with the double this week, he looms as a decent trade-in and captain option.

SUPERCOACH BBL: MAKE YOUR TEAM CHANGES NOW!

Originally published as SuperCoach BBL Bible: Round 13