BBL 7, Match 23, Preview: Under fire Stars search their first win

The kind of team the Melbourne Stars have on paper, it’s surprising that they are sitting at the very last position of the Big Bash League (BBL) points table. They have no points yet in their tally as they have had 4 back to back losses. The big names have just not stood up for the Stars which has caused their downfall.

Retaining Kevin Pietersen for this season hasn’t turned out to be the smartest decision as KP has clearly lost his touch having been away from the arena. He is not playing enough cricket these days and that is reflecting in his batting as he is just not finding any sort of rhythm and is also not hitting the ball as cleanly as he used to. However given his stature, he is undroppable and in all likelihood, he will play all the games for the Stars.

The failure of Glenn Maxwell has probably hurt the Stars the most as he is the most dynamic batsman in the line-up and he had come into the tournament with plenty of runs in the first-class cricket under his belt. The management would have backed him to play some of his vintage knocks in a format which he likes the most, but he has let the management down so far.

As far as the Strikers are concerned, Rashid Khan has carried them on their shoulders. Yes, there have been decent contributions every now and again from the other players in both bowling and batting department, but it’s been Rashid who has seized the key moments for the Strikers. He has bowled quickish leg break and has straightaway been able to find the ideal length for a spinner in Australian conditions.

In the last match, the Afghanistan international played a massive role with the bat too as he swung the willow and scored 16 off just 6 deliveries towards the ends of the innings which proved to be vital for his team. He has got the all-round potential in him and he will again be the player to watch out for. The Strikers will hope the young lad comes up with another good performance and makes a massive impact on the game as he has been making all tournament.

Predicted XI-

Adelaide Strikers: Alex Carey (wk), Jake Weatherald, Travis Head (C), Collin Ingram, Jonathan Wells, Jake Lehmann, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Ben Laughlin, Billy Stanlake

Melbourne Stars: Ben Dunk, Luke Wright, Kevin Pietersen, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Rob Quiney, James Faulkner, John Hastings (C), Adam Zampa, Liam Bowe, Michael Beer