SuperCoach BBL: Final Bible

And so it all comes down to Sunday - it’s a Melbourne Derby at Marvel Stadium, with the Renegades set to host the Stars in a massive clash for local bragging rights. But what should you do for your SuperCoach side?

Expect fireworks at Marvel Stadium as the Melbourne Renegades host the Melbourne Stars for local bragging rights in the BBL|08 Final

WHAT WE LEARNED 

Once again, the curse of the top ladder position continues, with the Melbourne Stars knocking the Hobart Hurricanes out of the competition on their home ground in the first semi-final. For once it wasn’t the spinners who did the damage, but instead speedster Dan Worrall who was able to perfectly execute his plans and capture four wickets on his way to 136 SuperCoach points for the game.

The Renegades and Sixers played an absolute thrilling encounter at Marvel Stadium in the second Semi-Final, and it it going to be an absolute thrilling finale to BBL|08 with a Melbourne Derby seeing two sides without a Big Bash championship to their name set to claim local bragging rights no matter the result.

MAKE YOUR FINAL SUPERCOACH BBL TEAM CHANGES NOW

With the same pitch to be used on Sunday as it was on Friday night, it would appear that it is strong and true and favours spinners over quicks, but mostly is a perfect batting wicket - with an array of power hitting available for both the Renegades and the Stars, it could be a very high-scoring SuperCoach game indeed.

Qais Ahmad of the Hurricanes was a surprise packet in the concluding weeks of the BBL|08 season

TOP SCORERS OF ROUND 13

1. Dan Worrall - BWL - 136 points vs Hurricanes
2. Qais Ahmed - BWL - 96 points vs Stars
3. Josh Phillippe - WKP / BAT - 92 points vs Renegades
4. Glenn Maxwell - BAT / BWL - 89 points vs Hurricanes
5. Daniel Hughes - BAT / BWL - 80 points vs Renegades

Glenn Maxwell has been enormous for the last two games - can he lead the Stars to victory again?

START ‘EM

Given his performances over the last two games, it would be a very brave player who left Glenn Maxwell (Stars | BAT / BWL | $207,100) out of their starting line-up in the BBL|08 Final. If only there were a SuperCoach points allocation for leadership, as he has been in complete control of his own and the Stars’ game, first in securing their spot in the finals and then in knocking off the Hurricanes at home. Averaging 131.7 over the last three rounds, he’s a must.

Whether or not Dan Worrall (Stars | BWL | $102,700) warrants a spot in your side for the Final is another matter. He’s on the up-and-up - 20 points in Round 12, 68 in Round 13, and then a whopping 136 in the Semi-Final - but the surface won’t be as conducive to his pace at Marvel Stadium. He and Kane Richardson (Renegades | BWL | $225,000) would be risky but potentially rewarding selections on Sunday.

Dan Christian (Renegades, BAT | BWL | $194,900) might have been the match-winner, but top SuperCoach honours for the winning side on Friday night went to Cameron Boyce (Renegades | BWL | $200,400). At one stage it looked like Sam Harper (Stars | WKP / BAT | $104,200) was ready to take over, and he looms as an obvious swap option for those who had Matthew Wade for the Semi-Finals.

Kane Richardson of the Renegades - will you start him or sit in in the SuperCoach BBL Final?

SIT ‘EM

The Stars’ Nic Maddinson (Stars | BAT | $74,900) looked set to tee off against the Hurricanes, but again he flattered to deceive. 31 points was ten above his yearly average, but ten down on his three game average.

Teammate Ben Dunk (Stars | BAT | $79,900) has endured a second horror BBL season, and it would be a brave SuperCoach player who would select him as one of their six batsmen for the Final. With a score of zero SuperCoach points in Round 9 against the Renegades at Marvel Stadium, where he was bowled by the now absent Mohammad Nabi for a golden duck, he might be one to avoid.

The Renegades are harder to judge as it was a relatively even performance - there was no singular stand-out and their top four SuperCoach scorers were only split by 12 points, and further down the order the sixth to eighth ranked performers only split by eight points. Given that the same pitch is being used on Sunday, any of Richardson, Ben Dwarshuis or the Stars’ Worrall could be a risky selection seeing as it appeared to not favour the quicks.

It’s hard to look past Marcus Stoinis of the Stars as skipper in SuperCoach BBL

CAPTAIN’S CORNER

Richardson has had no trouble performing on the Marvel Stadium pitch previously, so if you are looking for a left-field option - and you’ve decided to back him in as one of your six bowlers - then he may be a sneaky point-of-difference captaincy selection.

But would it be boring if we simply nominated Marcus Stoinis (Stars | BAT / BWL| $294,300) once again? He’s clearly one of the form players in the competition at the moment and, with just the one game remaining, why wouldn’t you put the armband on him? His skipper, Glenn Maxwell, might be another choice...if only there were bonus points for on-field leadership.

MAKE YOUR FINAL SUPERCOACH BBL TEAM CHANGES NOW

Originally published as SuperCoach BBL: Final Bible