After 59 games of exciting cricket, there are just two games left in BBL 11 to decide the eventual champions.
In the last playoff game of the season, the Sydney Sixers will play the in-form Adelaide Strikers at the SCG for a place in the final against the Perth Scorchers.
During the home and away season, the Sixers finished with a record of nine and four to put them into second. On the other hand, the Strikers scraped into fourth with a record of six and eight.
Whilst the Sixers were always going to make the play-off matches thanks to their abundant talent, the Strikers were viewed as "no-hopers" after a very poor start to the season.
To put it mildly, Adelaide found themselves at two and eight after their first ten games, a seemingly inescapable tragedy. It seemed impossible for them to do any damage in the tournament.
However, they ultimately turned it around to win their last four matches of the tournament including a big win against the Sixers to make it into the top five.
So far this tournament, the Sixers leading runscorer has unsurprisingly been superstar keeper Josh Philippe who has scored 429 across all 15 games he has played this season.
In comparison, fellow opener Matt Short has been the Strikers leading runscorer this season with 487 in the same amount of games as Philippe.
Alongside Short will be Australian test keeper Alex Carey, fellow Aussie test player and player of the Ashes series Travis Head, story of the season Ian Cockbain and the ever-consistent Jono Wells will be aiming to post a big total come Wednesday night.
With a similar mix of aggression and talent, the Sixers boast a top-order comprising of captain Moises Henriques, vice-captain Daniel Hughes and the experienced Jordan Silk. Meanwhile, Dan Christian will aim to come in and score some quick-fire runs to either post a big score or chase down a total swiftly.
Ultimately, the Strikers probably have the better batting lineup since they have a bit more firepower and talent as opposed to the Sixers.
Shifting to the bowling side of things, the Sixers lineup will comprise of the second leading wicket-taker of the tournament Hayden Kerr, quicks Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis and spinners Steve O'Keefe and superstar Nathan Lyon.
In opposition, the Strikers will include the likes of Harry Conway, Henry Thornton, spinners Fawad Ahmed and Matt Short and lastly the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, 37-year-old Peter Siddle. Keeping in mind that they just lost Rashid Khan, this is some sort of bowling lineup for the Strikers.
However, this being said, the Sixers do have the edge here due to their great variety and well-rounded bowling lineup.
Therefore, the big match-up seems to be between the Sixers bowling attack and the Strikers batting lineup.
Looking back upon their previous meetings, the Sixers got the edge in the first game defeating the Strikers where Sean Abbott managed to snag the man of the match award with 3/24 off his four overs and 19 off 10 with the bat.
Meanwhile, in the second game, the Strikers chased down a total of 161 with Ian Cockbain scoring 71 off 38 to secure the win.
Interestingly, in both these games, the chasing team won, something we suspect will also occur in this match.
Moving onto our predictions for the game, the Strikers will be hoping to bat first and post a big total before defending it with all their might. On the other hand, the Sixers will aim to keep the Strikers to a low score to ultimately get over the line.
Whilst the Strikers do have a great batting lineup, their bowling attack lacks variety. Furthermore, we believe the Sixers have too much firepower all over their team with so many guys having the ability to be matchwinners.
Moreover, Peter Siddle looked very sore towards the end of the game against the Thunder and so is likely to be hampered in some way.
Such fatigue would likely be replicated across all of the other Strikers players who have had an unbelievably busy schedule of late.
In comparison, the Sixers will be fresh and hungry for another BBL title and thus get the nod.
For us, the two best teams all year and the two best teams in history: The Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers will be in the final.
