Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers (Source: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images and Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

The Match No. 18 of Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26will be played between Melbourne Renegades (REN) and Sydney Sixers (SIX) at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne on January 1. The Sixers possess a dominant head-to-head record against the Renegades in the BBL.

The Renegades have been on a two-match losing streak after winning their opening game by 14 runs. Both defeats have come against defending champions Hobart Hurricanes while not being able to defend their respective totals.

The Moises Henriques-led unit faced narrow last-over defeats in their first two matches of the season. They then posted a 47-run win against Sydney Thunder before facing their third loss of the edition while batting first. The Sixers were defeated by seven wickets.

REN vs SIX Match Details

Match	Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Sixers, Match 18, BBL 2025-26
Date and Time	Thursday, January 1; 10:30 am (IST)
Venue	Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Broadcast and Live Streaming Details	JioStar Network Channels and JioHotstar (app and website)

Docklands Stadium, Melbourne Pitch Report

This particular clash will be the first match which will be played at the Docklands Stadium this BBL season.

As per previous trends, eight of the 11 completed T20s at this venue have gone in the favour of the team batting first. The contest can be expected to be a run-fest, with the pitch offering little to nothing for the bowlers.

REN vs SIX Head-to-Head Record in T20s

Matches Played	20
Won by Melbourne Renegades	5
Won by Sydney Sixers	14
Tied	0
No Result	1
First-ever Fixture	January 2, 2012
Most-recent Fixture	December 16, 2024

REN vs SIX Predicted Playing XIs Melbourne Renegades (REN):

Josh Brown, Tim Seifert, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Oliver Peake, Hassan Khan, Will Sutherland (c), Gurinder Sandhu, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff

Sydney Sixers (SIX):

Daniel Hughes, Babar Azam, Josh Philippe (wk), Moises Henriques (c), Jack Edwards, Joel Davies, Jordan Silk, Ben Dwarshuis, Ben Manenti, Sean Abbott, Kane Richardson

REN vs SIX Probable Top Performers Probable Best Batter — Tim Seifert Tim Seifert (Source: Steve Bell/Getty Images)

Tim Seifertgot off to a flying start in this tournament with a cracking ton to his name. He got off to impressive starts in the Renegades' next couple of matches, but was not able to convert. The top-order batter can be expected to fire once again.

Probable Best Bowler — Jack Edwards

The Sixers' previous match was the first one in which Jack Edwards went wicketless. Despite this, Edwards can be considered likely to put in a similar performance such as that in the match against Sydney Thunder in which he picked up a five-wicket haul.

Today's Match Prediction: Team batting first to win the match