MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 39

Rain came into the equation again for last night’s Sydney derby, with the Sixers having six overs chopped off their innings. The Thunder’s score of 166, spearheaded by Alex Hales and Daniel Sams, was unlikely to be enough, and the 129 target was easily chased with Josh Philippe racing out of the blocks.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 38

For a game with such a close predicted margin, the actual result was anything but. The Hobart Hurricanes, sent in to bat against Perth, delivered an insipid performance, limping along at less than a run a ball for most of the innings. The Scorchers almost made it through without losing a wicket, with Liam Livingstone’s skied catch the only blemish on a cruisy victory.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 37

The Melbourne Stars are continuing to sink down the rankings, with last night’s loss (their fifth in six games) taking their Elo rating below the 1500 average for the first time since the early days of last season. Nic Maddison and Marcus Stoinis both made 40s, but 149 was always going to be too difficult to defend, and Adelaide chased the target down with an over to spare.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 36

While Test cricket is reaffirming its status as the single best form of the game, the T20 machine rolls on behind. The Sydney Sixers stayed top with their third last-over victory of the season, Dan Christian going off in a steady chase of a small target set by the Brisbane Heat (the responsibility of Carlos Braithwaite, whose 4/18 should probably have won him player of the match in my book). The win put the Sixers just above their cross-town rivals in the Thunder, the bonus point serving as the cherry on top.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 34

Well, it was bound to happen eventually, and the Melbourne Renegades finally broke their winning streak with an impressive chase against the Adelaide Strikers. Choosing to bat, the home side set 177 from a very strong start (making it to 1/136), which looked like an imposing total. A couple of wickets fell to disrupt momentum, but Mohammed Nabi – whose nickname of ‘President’ enabled a lot of dodgy puns to be made – made a career high 71* to pilot his team to victory with one ball to spare.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 33

You wouldn’t want to be a Melbourne Stars fan at this point in time, having now lost four consecutive games and going from ‘likely winners for the first time’ to ‘quite realistically going to miss finals’. Admittedly, last night saw them faced with circumstances beyond their control – a rain-interrupted game wreaked havoc with bowling rotations and the DLS system went against them – but 130 in ten overs was always going to be beyond them, especially after a Glenn Maxwell golden duck.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Matches 31+32

We got the large margin that we predicted for yesterday’s game…the only difference is that we got the wrong team. Colin Munro and Mitch Marsh both made 50s for the Perth Scorchers, the latter’s at more than two runs per ball, and set an imposing target of 184 for the Sydney Sixers. At 2/10 in the third over, they didn’t have a hope, and seven wickets from the pace combo of (Andrew) Tye and Jhye (Richardson) dismissed them for a sub-100 total.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 30

New day, same lows for the Melbourne Renegades. Things were looking pretty good when the Strikers (who’d chosen to bat) were 4/72, and with only 109 runs off 16 overs there was every chance that the target would be within reach. Then (as always) they stuffed it up, with Jake Weatherald’s 51 (25) propelling the score up to 171. Facing that target, the Renegades lost a wicket off the first ball of the innings, somehow missed out on the Bash Boost (needing four runs off the last over before it, and only getting one), and got bowled out for the fourth time in seven games.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 29

Yesterday’s games were another strikeout for us, meaning that our accuracy has dropped below 60% for the first time all season. A strong batting performance from the Melbourne Stars – in particular Marcus Stonis’ 97* – set a target that was too strong for the Hobart Hurricanes, before Chris Lynn became the first X-Factor sub arguably worthy of the name as he steered the Brisbane Heat to a victory over the Sydney Thunder.

MBBL|10 Predictions – Match 27+28

Yesterday’s double headers gave two ultimately expected results at both corners of the country and both extremes of the Elo table. The Sixers bounced back from an upset loss after beating the Strikers; while the Renegades limped to a 96-run loss against Perth, somehow only their third biggest this season (and they still got the bonus point!)