Melbourne Stars will be playing their first home game of the season when they take on cross-city rivals Melbourne Renegades in the 2018/19 Big Bash League

This derby game is scheduled to be played on 1st January 2019 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Live telecast will begin at 13:45 IST .

Toss Prediction

The five matches played at the MCG in the previous season were all won by the side batting second. And since the wicket at this ground is unlikely to change after the first period of play, the team that wins the ‘bat flip’ in this match is more likely to bowl first.

Melbourne Stars Team News & Playing 11

Melbourne Stars have made a couple of changes to their squad for this New Year’s day derby clash against Melbourne Renegades.

Bowling all-rounder Jonathan Merlo and wicketkeeper-batsman Seb Gotch have replaced fast bowler Jackson Coleman and batsman Peter Handscomb. While Coleman has withdrawn himself citing personal reasons, Handscomb is currently part of the Australian test squad. Merlo is in line to make his BBL debut on Tuesday. The Stars are unlikely to tweak the rest of their line-up.

Melbourne Stars Key Players

With Peter Handscomb not available for this match, the onus will be on Ben Dunk, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis to score the big runs. Maxwell and Stoinis both have plenty of international experience under their belts and the Stars will dearly want at least one of them to make a healthy contribution with the bat.

There will also be high expectations from Nick Larkin who is currently the team’s leading run-scorer. The hosts have a strong bowling attack with the likes of Adam Zampa, Sandeep Lamichhane and Dwayne Bravo who is regarded as one of the best death bowlers in the world. Lamichhane is amongst the leading wicket-takers this BBL with seven wickets in three matches and he will pose the biggest threat to the Renegades. The opposition will also be wary of leg-spinner Zampa who has so far done a good job of applying pressure on the batsmen with his economical bowling.

Melbourne Stars Recent Form

Melbourne Stars have played three league matches so far in this year’s BBL and are currently fifth on the points table with one win and two losses. They lost their rain-hit opening encounter to Sydney Thunder by 15 runs before facing a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Hobart Hurricanes in their second game. The Stars, however, bounced back in their last match with a five-wicket victory over Sydney Sixers at the SCG to lift themselves up from the bottom.

Melbourne Stars Predicted Playing 11

• Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch (wk), Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Marcus Stoinis, Dwayne Bravo, Evan Gulbis, Sandeep Lamichhane, Scott Boland, Adam Zampa, Jonathan Merlo

Melbourne Renegades Team News & Playing 11

Following a big defeat against Sydney Sixers in the last game, Melbourne Renegades have named a few changes to their 13-man squad for this match against Melbourne Stars.

Batsmen Tim Ludeman and Jake Fraser have been dropped while spinner Jon Holland and pace bowler Andrew Fekete have been added to the squad. Sam Harper is likely to perform the glovework behind the stumps and could even open the batting alongside Mackenzie Harvey. The Renegades may not make any changes in their bowling group.

Melbourne Renegades Key Players

Sam Harper could be promoted to the top of the order in the absence of Tim Ludeman and he along with Mackenzie Harvey, who looked good in his knock of 30 last time against Sydney Sixers, will look to take the Renegades off to a strong start.

Mohammad Nabi, with 91 runs in three matches, has scored the most runs for the team so far and he will be their biggest hope in the middle order. The Afghan all-rounder together with the pace trio of Kane Richardson, Daniel Christian and Jack Wildermuth form a potent bowling attack. Richardson is the season’s second-best bowler at the moment with eight wickets in three matches and he bagged outstanding figures of 3-22 from four overs last time against the Sixers. Wildermuth has also chipped in with important wickets and he too is expected to have a good outing against the Stars.

Melbourne Renegades Recent Form

Melbourne Renegades are occupying the second spot on the BBL 08 points table after having won two and lost one out of their three league matches. They started their campaign with a four-wicket win over Perth Scorchers at home and then secured a five-wicket win against Adelaide Strikers at the Adelaide Oval. But the Renegades could not keep the momentum going as they suffered a 33-run loss to Sydney Sixers in their last match.

Melbourne Renegades Predicted Playing 11

• Sam Harper (wk), Mackenzie Harvey, Cameron White, Tom Cooper (c), Beau Webster, Mohammad Nabi, Daniel Christian, Jack Wildermuth, Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson, Usman Khan

Melbourne Stars vs Melbourne Renegades Head to Head

Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades have played 13 matches against each other in the Big Bash League with the former leading the scoreline 9-4.

Melbourne Stars have won eight of the last ten matches they have played against Melbourne Renegades. Both the teams won once each in the two meetings last season.

Melbourne Stars defeated Melbourne Renegades in their most recent face-off this year in January at the Docklands Stadium. The Stars posted 167/4 on the board after being put into bat first and then restricted the Renegades to 144/9 to win the match by 23 runs.

Matches Played: 13; Melbourne Stars Won: 9; Melbourne Renegades Won: 4