Brisbane Heat will be looking to keep their charge towards the grand finale going as they take on Sydney Thunder in the knockout on Sunday. The winner of this match will challenge Perth Scorchers for a spot in the finals.
The Heat are coming into this match on the back of a convincing six-wicket win over Adelaide Strikers in the Eliminator. Their batting has really come into shape since the middle of the season and their bowlers have been disciplined as well. Marnus Labuschagne’s return from national duty has really worked out well for them. He has strengthened their batting on one hand and he has been delivering with his bowling in every match as well. Mark Steketee has also been really good with the new ball and in the death overs as well. Other bowlers have supported him really well too.
As far as their batting goes, Chris Lynn and Joe Denly have been in good form. Max Bryant has been getting them off to quick starts as well, even though he hasn’t quite got the big scores. So they are working well together as a unit.
Sydney Thunder, who finished third at the end of the league stage, are a pretty strong team as well. They are also coming into this game on the back of a win in their last league match against the Strikers. Their top three of Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, and Callum Ferguson have been in superb batting form and thus the Heat bowlers will have their task cut out against them. Sam Billings has also delivered with his batting whenever needed and the lower middle-order of Alex Ross and Ben Cutting has also contributed with valuable cameos throughout the tournament.
Although their bowling looked pretty good at the start of the season, some problems crept in towards the business end. Daniel Sams’ injury had a lot to do with it as well, as he was not only a key new-ball bowler for them but he played a vital role in the death overs too. But they are well aware of their mistakes in recent times and thus they will be looking to come up with a disciplined bowling approach in this match.
Team News
Brisbane Heat don’t have any injury to be concerned about. Sydney Thunder, however, will continue to miss Daniel Sams as he remains sidelined with injury.
Probable Playing XIs
Sydney Thunder
Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales, Callum Ferguson (C), Sam Billings, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Green, Adam Milne, Brendan Doggett, Tanveer Sangha
Brisbane Heat
Chris Lynn (C), Joe Denly, Marnus Labuschagne, Sam Haezlett, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Joe Burns, Lewis Gregory, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ben Laughlin, Morne Morkel, Xavier Bartlett
Key Players
Marnus Labuschagne (Brisbane Heat)
The youngster has lit up the BBL ever since he came back from national duty. He has not only amassed 129 runs at an average of 32.25 in the four matches he has played so far, but he has also picked up nine wickets at a sensational average of 8.66.
Alex Hales (Sydney Thunder)
He is the leading run-getter in this BBL season with 535 runs to his name at an average of 41.15. He has maintained a high strike-rate of 163.60 while doing so, and his runs include a century and three fifties as well.