Hobart Hurricanes will face Melbourne Renegades in a Big Bash League (BBL) encounter at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart on Monday.
The Hurricanes will be eyeing the top spot in the BBL 2015-2016 points table and on the other hand, Renegades will be looking to resurrect their BBL campaign as soon as possible.
Hurricanes have notched up three wins out of the four games they have played. In their last fixture, they edged past the upbeat Sydney Thunder and it was indeed a thrilling victory. Hurricanes were in no position to win that match but an over from seamer Jake Reed produced three back-to-back wickets. Shaun Tait too picked up three wickets in that game to hand his side a crucial 11-run victory over Thunder.
Former Australia ODI skipper George Bailey has been the best batsman for the Hurricanes in the current season of the BBL. Bailey has already scored 185 runs in just four matches and he has admitted that after he was released off his captaincy duties of the Hurricanes side, he has started playing with a lot more freedom.
"It's played a big part, it means I can just rock up to training and just focus on me and do my stuff and get out of there. But the beauty of that is I can do it with a really clear conscience. 'Painey' is such a good planner and in a really good place with his stuff, and 'Wrighty' [coach Damien Wright] and the coaches are doing a good job," Bailey told reporters on Sunday.
"We have so many leaders on the field as well, with Kumar [Sangakkara] and Darren [Sammy]. I will always try and help out where I can, but I can relax and enjoy it a bit more."
Meanwhile, Renegades have a number of reasons to worry. First and foremost, they have lost three games in a row now and this is a must win game for them. Secondly, the big Jamaican Chris Gayle has not been in the best of form in this season of the BBL and they will want him to fire up on Monday.
Despite Cameron White's heroics with the bat in the Melbourne derby on Saturday, Renegades could only post a total of 161 at the end of 20 overs. Luke Wright of Melbourne Stars slammed a 59-ball century to outclass Renegades by seven wickets in front of a record 80, 000 people at the MCG.
Squads: Hobart Hurricanes: Tim Paine (C), Ben Dunk, George Bailey, Cameron Boyce, Dan Christian, Simon Milenko, Sam Rainbird, Jake Reed, Clive Rose, Darren Sammy, Kumar Sangakkara, Shaun Tait, Jon Wells.
Melbourne Renegades: Aaron Finch (C), Tom Beaton, Dwayne Bravo, Tom Cooper, Xavier Doherty, Cameron Gannon, Chris Gayle, Nathan Rimmington, Matthew Short, Cameron Stevenson, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade, Cameron White.
Where to watch live:
Big Bash League (BBL) 2015 encounter between Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades is scheduled for a 7:40 pm local time (2:10 pm IST, 9:40 am BST and 8:40 am GMT) start. T20 fans in India can tune into Star Sports 1 and Star Sports HD 1.
The live streaming option will be available on Starsports.com and Hotstar.com.
Audience in UK can tune into Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD 1 to watch BBL 2015-2016 clash- Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades. The live streaming option will be available on Watch Sky Sports.
In Australia, fans can tune into Fox Sports and Ten Network for the live action of the Big Bash League game between Hurricanes and Renegades.
They can also live stream the BBL encounter between Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Renegades on Tenplay, Bigbash.com.au and cricket.com.au.
