Big Bash League Preview: Sydney v Melbourne

The Big Bash League resumes on Sunday as the Sydney Sixers will host the Melbourne Stars at the SCG.

The Sydney Sixers have won two games from their opening three matches this season, are currently leading the table with a very healthy net-run-rate.

While, the Melbourne Stars are currently find themselves second bottom with nothing to show their efforts in a last two of games this season.

While the Sixers approach this upcoming game on the backs of a three wicket victory over the Melbourne Renegades on Wednesday, the Stars were beaten by the Sydney Thunder by one run in their last fixture in the BBL.

Usman Khawaja’s ton from the top of the order helped the Thunder get to 178/6 in the first 20 overs. The Australia international hit 109 off 70 balls on the occasion despite having little support from the rest of the batting order.

A glorious effort from Kevin Pietersen and James Faulkner nearly saw the Stars across the line but they ended up losing by the tiniest of margins.

Pietersen’s form with the bat will however be a huge positive going into this upcoming fixture with the former England star hitting 76 off 42 deliveries.

In the other match, forties from Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, and Tom Beaton helped the Melbourne Renegades post a challenging total of 172/4 batting first.

However, a couple of glorious innings from Michael Lumb and skipper Moises Henriques helped them chase it down with three wickets and seven deliveries to spare.

Both sides will be very happy about the fact that a lot of their players have fired so far although the Stars are yet to win this season. Pietersen will certainly be the key man for the Stars while the Sixers will look to their skipper for inspiration.

One particular area that both sides will look to improve is their bowling. It has not inspired a lot of confidence so far and needs some major improvement.

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