Final Word: Round 3 skippers, tactics, weather

Round 2 is in the bag, and it’s another rapid turnaround before we kick back into gear.



We now look ahead to Round 3 which begins on Sunday night in Sydney.



The Stars are the talk of the round with two games, followed by next week’s bye.



The weather looks fairly good for the week ahead, however there may be rain about for the Stars second game of the double against the Sixers.



However, on the current forecast I don’t think it should alter any trade plans too significantly.



The Cooma Stallions had a solid round of 746 points to move into 1,702nd place overall.



Let’s take a look at the Round 3 action.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WEATHER WATCH</h2>



All weather is courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology as of Sunday, 1PM. All times are in AEDT. Forecasts are subject to change.



SUNDAY



7:15PM: Thunder v Stars, Sydney Showground



Forecast: Partly cloudy, 23 degrees, 30% chance of 0-1mm of rain.



Verdict: Rain very unlikely to impact the clash.



MONDAY



7:15PM: Heat v Renegades, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast



Forecast: Partly cloudy, 27 degrees, 20% chance of any rain.



Verdict: Rain very unlikely to impact the clash.



TUESDAY



7:15PM: Hurricanes v Scorchers, Blundstone Arena, Hobart



Forecast: Possible shower, 21 degrees, 40% chance of 0-1mm of rain.



Verdict: Rain unlikely to impact much, monitor coming days.



WEDNESDAY



7:15PM: Stars v Sixers, MCG, Melbourne



Forecast: Shower or two, 21 degrees, 50% chance of 0-3mm of rain.



Verdict: Rain may impact the clash, will monitor forecast in coming days.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">LOOKING AHEAD</h2>



The Stars are on the double and therefore will be the most popular options in Round 3.



However, they have the bye in Round 4, so don’t stack too heavily with them.



Five is likely the maximum you will want and be able to recruit, but if you have non-active players sitting on your bench, you may need to be more conservative.



The Strikers are on the bye this round.



The Scorchers have the double in Round 4 then don’t have the bye the week after.



They have stacks of very relevant SuperCoach players, so it seems a solid option to put one of their contingent into your side this week.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">SUPER PODS</h2>



Each week one of our contributors will provide a full analysis on the point of difference (POD) players to consider.



In the Final Word, we’ll look at the super POD options, the players at under 5% ownership (or around about) that could send you soaring (or falling) up the overall ranks.



They come with big risk, but the reward is immense if it comes off.



Last week, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Caleb Jewell both delivered with 73 points and 67 points respectively.



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Qais Ahmad – 1.2%



Normally I avoid double game week players in this section as the ownership will go up plenty by the time the round begins.



However, Ahmad is at very low ownership and with so many gun options to choose from he may remain under the radar.



I like what BBL09 champion Thommo Aitken said in his POD article this week regarding batsmen seeing off the more high profile Adam Zampa, then looking to attack Ahmad.



It’ll present him with serious wicket-taking opportunities, and with the DGW he could be an outstanding POD.



Thommo also noted Ahmad scored 180 points in Round 1 of the 2019/20 season, so we know the ceiling is there.



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Jason Behrendorff – 7.3%



He’s a little above super POD range, but Behrendorff looks a great option this week ahead of the Scorchers Round 4 double.



A strong score of 76 gives him a relatively low breakeven of 26, which should drop again next round with that score in his rolling average.



He’s a top class bowler in a very strong Scorchers outfit, and after an injury plagued career he’s starting to get plenty of games under his belt without being sidelined.



He’ll be popular next week, so why not go early?



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BREAKEVENS</h2>



Each week we’ll list the top 10 players with both the highest and lowest breakevens, plus a few additional players worth noting, to help track your cash movement.



LOWEST BREAKEVEN (Money-makers)



Xavier Bartlett (-32)



Joel Paris (-30)



Matt Short (-28)



Caleb Jewell (-26)



Matt Gilkes (-25)



Liam Guthrie (-24)



Alex Ross (-22)



Kurtis Patterson (-20)



Thomas Kelly (-15)



Colin Munro (-13)



Matt Wade (-8)



Matt Kelly (-5)



HIGHEST BREAKEVEN (Likely money fallers)



Andre Russell (151)



Marcus Stoinis (141)



Glenn Maxwell (138)



Alex Hales (132)



Dan Christian (129)



Mujeeb Ur Rahman (126)



Nathan Coulter-Nile (121)



Chris Lynn (118)



Adam Zampa (113)



Daniel Sams (97)



Jack Wildermuth (95)



Tom Curran (92)



Rashid Khan (88)



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">SKIPPERS</h2>



It’s vital to note that despite there only being one team on the double this week, and the fact they’re playing in game one, you can still implement the vice-captaincy loophole!



Let’s say you VC Glenn Maxwell, if he goes poorly in the opening game, say sub 20, it presents the opportunity to stick the captaincy on a gun such as D’Arcy Short or Tom Curran.



While it’s unlikely, it may eventuate and present a huge opportunity.



This week there’s numerous options we can pick.



My top pick is Maxwell, while he hasn’t factored too much this season, he came into the tournament in great form.



He had four Supercoach tons last season and three single-digit scores.



He’s bowled three overs in two games so far which isn’t ideal, but it’s that factor that edges him ahead of the likes of Stoinis and Zampa for me.



As a genuine part-timer, batsmen will go after him, so he’s always a decent chance at taking wickets.



Stoinis is another outstanding option, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be required to bowl just yet.



That being said, we know he doesn’t need bowling to score well in SuperCoach, and his upside is immense regardless.

Final Word: Round 3 skippers, tactics, weather

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