Thommo’s Takes: SuperCoach BBL Round 3 wrap

Welcome to our review article at SC Playbook where we review the action from the previous round and see what impact it had on our side and what we can learn from it.

Renegades vs Heat

Result: Renegades won by 4 wickets

Takes:

• The Renegades bowlers worked well as a cohesive unit. Looking forward to round 5 there a quite a few options that are appealing. They again used spin successfully in the powerplay in a move that matched what they did against the Heat in round one.
• Tom Rogers showed some of his Hurricanes form in clearly his best match for the Gades. 4/23 off 4 overs.
• Kane Richardson will drop again in price before the round 5 double after a wickletless performance. He is in quite good form and his 0/25 figures are misleading because he was highly economical before Peirson took advantage during the power surge. It feels strange but he may be a POD as others look towards other Renegade bowlers.
• Akeal Hosein again was super and he is demonstrating again he is an all rounder who will need to pay attention to before he rises to an extreme price before the round 5 DGR. 3/26 off his 4 overs and 30 off 19 with the bat. A unique and nifty wicket celebrator too which always gain plaudits in Thommo’s Takes.
• Mujeeb was economical and controlled in his 4 overs taking 1/18.
• Brisbane Heat new batters struggled to gel as a unit. Fish’s pick Jimmy Peirson again was their best batter, using the power surge to his full advantage on his way to compiling 45 off 30 to get the Heat to a defendable total.

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• Billings and Renshaw did a good job a steadying the innings and looked like they might start to accelerate the innings until the both got dismissed in the same over. Owners who bought them in this round who have liked them to go on with it, but at least they showed some form that they might be again to capitalise on in their second game of the round.
• What is it about fringe Australian fast bowlers and their ability to just destroy an opposition’s batting line up. First it was Boland and now Neser! What a return to BBL. The figures of 4/32 actually do not do him justice after those opening two overs which included a hattrick.
• Swepson and Kuhnemann both didn’t take a wicket. Their figures do not demonstrate how well they bowled and it would not surprise of wickets were around the corner for both Heat spinners.
• Steketee did Steketee things. 2/23 off 4 overs.
• Bazley was the disappointment for the Heat. He had the role and chance to score but as we know in SC, some days it is just not your day. Entering in before the power surge, he failed to trouble the scorers. He bowled over 3 overs, but couldn’t capture a wicket and was on the end of some Dre Russ big hitting. Batting at number 8 and not number 7 is not as good, but he will score points if he continues to bowl surge and death and has the chance to whack it at the end of an innings.
• The man wearing the 121 shirt for the Renegades changed the game. Neser had the pill swinging all over the place. He decides to hit it out of the ground so it has to be replaced. The new ball did not look as good as the old ball and Dre Russ still hit some massive sixes. 57 off 42 and with 6 massive sixes, I would have thought his strike rate might have been more!
• Finch with an anchor role that was not conducive to SC success but did ensure the Renegades were successful in their run chance. The Renegades. Yes the Renegades are 3 from 3!
• Two changes for the Heat. Cheapie Josh Brown missed out on selection for Renshaw. The Heat top order failed (Have I heard that before…..?) I predict he will get another chance at some stage. Bartlett also missed out replaced by a guy who did okay with the ball. Mr Neser.

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Sixers vs Hurricanes

Result: Sixers won by 6 runs

Takes:

• The match was delayed due to rain was only a 14 over match.
• A couple of perhaps surprising changes by the Sixers. Bird, who did well last match was replaced by the veteran and ultimate fine leg fielder SOK and new mystery spinner Naveed was not included, with Todd Murphy preferred. Both bowled well for the Sixers showing that they have bowling options considering Bird, Dwarshuis, Jordan and Naveed did not play in this match! It is worth noting that some rotations will occur for the Sixers according to lots of factors including grounds, conditions, weather, availability, restings and even match ups when considering Sixers bowlers for trade ins soon.
• Sydney had an opening partnership that clicked for the first time. Patterson and Philippe have not best at their best individually or collectively but they got the Sixers off to a cracking start that was probably the difference between the two sides on the night. 43 off 21 for Philippe and 38 off 25 for Kurtis.
• Hayden Kerr looks to have a really solid all-round role for the Sixers. Again he was good late in the innings for the Sixers with 32 off 20 and bowled 3 overs to record figures of 2/36. He was even bowling dome death-type overs but we will after to see if this continues once Chris Jordan arrives. He will be a popular purchase soon considering breakeven, schedule and current point scoring potential.
• Some Sixers batters are still to find their groove this tournament. I am hoping as a Sixers fan they find their mojo before too long. Henriques, Christian and Vince have far too much quality to continue register low scores.
• Spinners again stole the show for the Hurricanes. Dooley 2/19 off his 3 overs and Shadab had an entertaining night and everything was happening during his spell incusing catches and non-catches. 2/32 off his 3 overs as well as 14 with the bat.

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• Ellis continues to be the primary death bowler but again went wicketless, just like he did in round one. He will pick up a bag of wickets at some stage and I look forward to bringing him into my side when schedule allows at a heavily discounted rate.
• Meredith is also one to keep an eye on, when schedule allow and price has bottomed out. He seems to be the one the Hurricanes are using at the moment during surge and late innings to replace what Rogers was doing last year. He like Ellis failed to pick up a wicket but he did an okay job and his figures of 0/31 off 3 seem a tad misleading too me.
• Joel Paris with only the 1 over. I know it was a wet and reduced game but it is a helpful reminder that we want to select bowlers who can bowl at multiple stages of an innings, instead of having only one time of the innings that they tend to operate.
• The star for the Hurricanes on the night was Asif Ali. An outrageous innings 41 of 13 for the international player, but batting at number 7 and not bowling means he cannot really be considered as a trade in. The Hurricanes have handy batting depth above him too so I cannot seem him producing anything other than the odd cameo.
• All other Hobart batters were not at their best, it was quite remarkable that it was so close in the end. McDermott and Short at the top of the order struggled to find their ultimate timing. Again noting no overs for Short when the Hurricanes when in the field.
• Abbott was expensive but is a wicket taker. Not really an Einstein-type statement considering he is the leading wicket taker in the competition over is history.
• Naveen-ul-Haq was used in the surge and death but struggled for find consistency and rhythm and ended up conceding a few wides. 1/36 off his 3 overs. He almost took a great outfield catch though!
• Just a shoutout to probably my favourite Sixer Jordan Silk in his 100^th match. He celebrated in typical Silk fashion and put on a fielding masterclass. Saving runs and making 3 outfield catches look effortless. Almost as good a fielder as Couch from the Stars!

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Stars vs Scorchers

Result: Scorchers won by 61 runs

Takes:

• A small suburban ground and a flat pitch meant runs were in order at the Junction Oval for this match. Interesting to note that players in form Faf, Inglis, Hardie etc were able to take full advantage, however, players yet to hit their straps were unable to find bulk runs such as Lyth, Turner and Stoinis.
• Both teams were unchanged from last game.
• Many Perth batters were on song. Faf started it off with 68 off 33. Hobson continued it on with 46 off 26. Inglis and Hardie completed the job with 74 off just 33 balls and 30 off 17 respectively.
• Stoinis bowling alert! Four overs too! 1/48 is not great reading for owners or prospective owners, but no Stars had economical figures considering the Scorchers made 229 runs. 
• Stoinis bowling came at the expensive of Beau Webster who did not even get one single over, even when all the Stars bowlers were getting carted to the boundary. He still has a negative breakeven due to some catches and runs (43 off 32) in this match but if he is not bowling he needs to be moved on when the time is appropriate.
• Shoutout to Luke Wood holders after the Stars bye. 5/50 off his 4 overs.
• No wickets for NCN or Zamps after many people could have held onto after bright round one performances.
• Melbourne never looked like chasing down the total. Kellaway, Larkin and Webster probably were the pick of the batters.
• The Perth bowling attack shared the wickets around. All grabbed at least one each with Jason Behrendorff the best with 3/32 off his 4 overs, even bowling a cheeky death over when the game was well and truly over.
• No overs for Hardie. In my mind it consolidates the fact that he will only be used in emergency circumstances. Once he peaks in price, even though he has started the season on fire and is a DDP, he probably will need to be traded out.

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Heat vs Strikers

Result: Heat won by 6 runs

Takes:

• Matt Short! When he has a quiet game with the bat (3 runs), he just does it with his spinners. 3/14 off his 3 overs. Very unlucky not to bowl out I would have thought.
• Max Bryant (not to be confused with out own legend at SC Playbook Max Bryden!), had his best game so far with 46 off 29.
• We were talking on the podcast leading into round three who would win the Heat batting lottery. The winner was Sam Billings. After an okay knock in the first game, he won the Heat the match by guiding them to a defendable total when things were looking a tad dicey. 79 off 48 balls. Some luck involved and he took a while to get busy, but that is typical short form cricket! 27 runs off one Peter Siddle over at the end was probably the match deciding moment. Siddle’s figures were really good until Billings went whack!
• Rashid Khan wicketless but still dangerous. He was limping around at one stage in the field so that might be something to monitor.
• Only one over for Colin de Grandhomme.
• Wes Agar was picking up wickets fun at the death. 3/38 off his 4 overs.
• Henry Thornton didn’t repeat his efforts from earlier but was still very decent with 1/37 off his over. Could have had some more wickets too!

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• Neser and Steketee struck early and were again very good selections for those that jumped on. Even better if they were your VC/C! 2/23 for Mr Neser and 4/34 for Steketee. The ball was hooping around for them at the Gabba. Something to monitor and consider at home games if the ball moves like that. Remember Neser had it going on too in Geelong!
• Swepson again went wicketless. If you told me before the round that he would bowl his 8 overs for the round and not take a wicket, I probably would not have believed you.
• Kuhnemann only the two overs but did pick up a wicket. A dubious call the home crowd loved as it dismissed someone who ‘they used to know’. Not bad from the Heat to play the Gotye hit as Lynn walked out to bat.
• Colin de Grandhomme and Thomas Kelly steadied the innings and got the Strikers back into the match.
• Bazley the POD pick for me and Fish, and I think our VC again was average, showing that you can’t made all your trade ins and VC/C picks awesome, although we wish they were! He had chances with bat and ball again this match but it wasn’t to be. 1/44 from his 4 overs and only 5 runs. Hopefully my trade ins this round will be better!
• Import Ross Whiteley with 2 overs, but it looks like he will never be a serious option to complete his full allotment of overs.