Dec 15: Hobart Hurricanes vs Adelaide Strikers, Launceston

Pro Tip: The last two T20s at this venue (in 2018-19 and 2019-20) were also between Hurricanes and Strikers, and spinners picked up only four of the 21 wickets to fall in those, and had an economy rate of 9.73. So pick pacers.

Our XI: D'Arcy Short, Will Jacks, Colin Ingram, Ben McDermott, James Faulkner, Riley Meredith, Jake Weatherald, Alex Carey, Jonathan Wells, Rashid Khan, Daniel Worrall

Substitutes: Peter Siddle, Matt Renshaw, Tim David, Peter Handscomb

Player availability: Having completed their Australia A commitments, Ben McDermott for Hurricanes and Strikers' Alex Carey and Harry Conway should be available. We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so please finalise your team after the toss.

Captain: D'Arcy Short

Short returned to form with a 48-ball 72 against Strikers the other day, and has now scored 499 runs in nine innings at an average of 62.37 and a strike rate of 145.90 against the opponents. Also, nobody has scored more against Rashid Khan than Short in the BBL - 80 runs in 48 balls with no dismissals.

Vice-captain: Alex Carey

Strikers skipper Carey comes into this game after a solid first-class outing, where he scored 32 and 58. He had a very good BBL 09 where he scored 391 runs in 11 innings at an average of 35.54.

Hot Picks

Riley Meredith: Meredith has picked up two wickets apiece in both the games so far, and has also been clocking close to 150kph regularly. He has been a genuine wicket-taker for Hurricanes, with 31 wickets in 23 games.

Jonathan Wells: No one has scored more in the death overs in the last two years than Wells, who has 301 of them - at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 170.05. He was also the fourth-highest run-scorer of the tournament last year, with 478 runs in 14 innings at an average of 68.28 and a strike rate of 135.41.

James Faulkner: James Faulkner has so far picked up 2 for 22 and 3 for 21 and struck a few lusty blows with the bat coming down the order. He had a good BBL 09 too where he got ten wickets in seven games, striking once every 12.6 balls.

Differential Picks

Ben McDermott: McDermott had a poor BBL 09 but was the top scorer in the recent Sheffield Shield for Tasmania and followed it up with a match saving 107* against the Indians in the three-day game. He also scored a thumping 49-ball 96 against Sixers in the BBL trial game.

Daniel Worrall: Worrall usually bowls in the powerplay and gets wickets. He surprised everyone with his hitting abilities in the last game too, when he scored an unbeaten 39-ball 62. His best bowling figures in BBL came against Hurricanes in the 2018-19 semi-final where he returned 4 for 23.

Alternate Scenarios

Khan's numbers against Hurricanes are poor when compared to the other BBL teams (average - 46.00, economy - 8.51). You might want to replace him with Peter Siddle.