The Hobart Hurricanes take on the Melbourne Stars in Match 19 of the BBL at the Blundstone Arena on Friday, 24th December. The Hobart Hurricanes have won only one of their four previous games heading into this encounter and are currently placed seventh in the points table. They lost their tournament-opener to the Sydney Sixers by 14 runs. The Hurricanes then went on to beat the Sixers by 44 runs in what was a rain-curtailed encounter to register their first win of the tournament. A defeat to the Perth Scorchers by 53 runs in their third game of the tournament soon followed. The Scorchers handed them a 42 run defeat in the reverse fixture. In their previous game, heading into this encounter, they were handed their third loss of the tournament by the Perth Scorchers. Thomas Rogers (2/21) and Jordan Thompson (3/33) were the stars with the ball in hand. Riley Meredith gave away just a single run and took one wicket in the one over that he bowled. Chasing a modest 168-run total, the Hurricanes’ batting line-up crumbled as none of the batters were able to get off to a good start, managing only 125 runs in their quota of overs. Nathan Ellis (15-ball 20) and Wil Parker (17-ball 25) were the top scorers for the Hurricanes. The Melbourne Stars have won two of their previous four games heading into this encounter and are currently placed sixth in the points table. They faced a humiliating 152 runs defeat at the hands of the Sydney Sixers in their tournament-opener. The Stars then registered a 4-run victory over the Sydney Thunder in what was a closely contested match. They registered their second win of the tournament, beating the Thunders by 6 wickets in the reverse fixture. They were once again beaten by the Sixers by 7 wickets in the reverse fixture. In their previous game, they were handed their second defeat of the tournament by a formidable Sixers side. Batting first, the Stars registered a 177 run total courtesy of a magnificent century from the bat of skipper Glenn Maxwell (57-ball 103). Andre Russell, Hilton Cartwright, and Nick Larkin played crucial cameos with the bat in hand. Defending an above-average total, the Stars bowlers fell prey to a rampant Josh Phillippe. Brody Couch, Adam Zampa, and Nathan Coulter-Nile claimed a wicket each but were unable to stem the flow of runs as the Sixers chased down the target with 7 wickets and 2 balls to spare. Melbourne Stars are placed at the 5th spot in the Big Bash League 2021-22 points table with 2 wins and 2 losses from their 4 matches of the league. The team has 7 points. Glenn Maxwell is the top run-scorer for Melbourne Stars with 163 runs at a strike rate of 152. He has struck 15 fours and 5 sixes. Hilton Cartwright has also made 98 runs at a strike rate of 136. BL Couch has been the best bowler for Melbourne Stars and has picked up 6 wickets while bowling at an average of 17 and an economy rate of 8.23. Hobart Hurricanes are placed at the 6th spot in the Big Bash League 2021-22 points table with one win and 3 losses from their 4 matches of the league. The team has 6 points. D’Arcy Short is the top run-scorer for Hobart Hurricanes with 138 runs at a strike rate of 102. He has struck 9 fours and 5 sixes. Matthew Wade has also made 130 runs at a strike rate of 156. Joel Paris has been the best bowler for Hobart Hurricanes and has picked up 5 wickets while bowling at an average of 14 and an economy rate of 7.65. Who’s got the form? Melbourne Stars have had a mixed start to BBL11, losing to Sydney Sixers on two occasions either side of back-to-back victories over Sydney Thunder. The Stars, however, will be well-rested having not played since December 15 while Glenn Maxwell made a welcome return to form in their previous two outings. The 33-year-old allrounder opened the tournament with knocks of 4 and 16 but has since posted 40 and 103 in his past two appearances. And with this match being the penultimate one on Andre Russell’s contract, a resurgent Maxwell will be very important for the Stars. Hobart Hurricanes, meanwhile, have won just one of their four matches to date, defeating Sydney Sixers by 44 runs (DLS) at the SCG to gain revenge for their 14-run defeat three days earlier. Since then, however, the Hurricanes have twice been on the receiving end of table-toppers Perth Scorchers, losing by 53 runs and 42 runs, respectively. The Hurricanes are yet to win when batting second. What’s the key match-up? This match will likely be decided by the form of the big-hitters with Maxwell and Russell lining up for Melbourne Stars and Matthew Wade, Harry Brook, Tim David the wrecking balls for the Hurricanes. Both Maxwell and Wade have gone big in BBL11, the former smashing 103 runs off 57 balls against the Sixers on December 15, the latter posting 93 off 46 against the same opponents. In the middle order, Russell hit a match-winning 42 not out off 21 balls against Sydney Thunder and was striking the ball at 186.64. David and Brook, meanwhile, haven’t quite hit their best form yet but with T20 strike rates of 152.65 and 147.43, respectively, they can’t be far away from a demolition job. With the ball, Joel Paris (injured), Tom Rogers, and Nathan Ellis are the leading wicket-takers for the Hurricanes, taking five apiece, while David has conceded just 45 runs from his 7.2 overs. For the Stars, the new kid on the block Brody Couch has taken six wickets with his right-arm medium-pace bowling. However, overall the Stars have been poor with the ball this season, conceding 160-plus runs in three of their four matches and failing to defend 177 against the Sixers in their most recent outing, and will be without Adam Zampa on Friday. HOBART HURRICANES VS MELBOURNE STARS MATCH DETAILS Match: Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Stars, Match 19 BBL 2021-22 Date: 24th December 2021 Time: 10:00 AM IST Venue: Blundstone Arena, Hobart HOBART HURRICANES VS MELBOURNE STARS PITCH REPORT The surface at Adelaide Oval is a good cricketing surface. It is expected to assist the batters, who can play their shots post a careful initial passage of play. The pacers need to make the most of the initial passage and provide their team with timely breakthroughs. HOBART HURRICANES VS MELBOURNE STARS WEATHER REPORT Partly cloudy skies are expected to be a feature of matchday. Temperatures are expected to range between 14 and 24 degrees Celsius. No rain interruptions are expected throughout the day’s play. HOBART HURRICANES VS MELBOURNE STARS PROBABLE XIS HOBART HURRICANES

• Matthew Wade (c & wk)
• D’Arcy Short
• Caleb Jewell
• Harry Brook
• Ben McDermott
• Tim David
• Jordan Thompson
• Nathan Ellis
• Tom Rogers
• Will Parker
• Sandeep Lamichane.

MELBOURNE STARS

• Marcus Stoinis
• Joe Clarke (wk)
• Nick Larkin
• Glenn Maxwell (c)
• Hilton Cartwright
• Andre Russell
• Beau Webster
• Nathan Coulter-Nile
• Qais Ahmed
• Adam Zampa
• Brody Couch.

HOBART HURRICANES VS MELBOURNE STARS MATCH PREDICTION The Melbourne Stars are a formidable side and the inclusion of Andre Russell and Qais Ahmed has added dimension to their team. The Melbourne Stars are favorites to finish on top in this encounter. The Hurricanes are a strong side and cannot be counted out but need to put up a strong bowling performance if they are to topple the Stars.