Hobart Hurricanes will take on the Melbourne Stars in the sixth fixture of the ongoing Big Bash League 2016-17. The match will be played on December 26 at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart. Live action is scheduled to begin at 7:10 PM local time. This will be the first game of the season for the Stars while the Hurricanes will be playing their first game against Sydney Sixers on December 23.

Toss

In the four BBL matches that were played at the Bellerive Oval last season, the side batting first scored over 160 three times which is enough to suggest that the pitch has been good for batting. Moreover, five of the past six matches here have been won by the team that has batted first. So the toss-winning captain is more likely make first use of the batting conditions.

Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Stars Head-to-Head
Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars have gone head-to-head six times in the past. The former have won on just two occasions while the latter have four wins. The two teams have met only once at the Bellerive Oval and Melbourne Stars won that match by 19 runs.

Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Stars Prediction
Bellerive Oval is home ground to Hobart Hurricanes, and despite losing their last two games here, they still have the advantage of being more familiar with the conditions than Melbourne Stars. Another thing which should give them a confidence boost is that they have beaten the Stars twice in their previous three encounters.

But Melbourne will be having most of the key players in their side from last season who helped them reach the finals and this could make a big difference between the two sides. Though the hosts are likely to benefit from the presence of Bailey, Sangakkara and Broad, we still feel it won’t be easy for them to take down an in-form Melbourne Stars.