The opening match of the new Big Bash League season sees the favourites for the title looking to get off to a good start when the Brisbane Heat take on the Sydney Thunder in what should be a wonderful commencement to the event at the Gabba.
Both these teams missed out on the postseason last term, and reaching the playoffs will be the first aim for each of them. A win here can get them off to a decent enough start in that quest which should ensure a competitive contest.
Brisbane Heat
There is a lot of anticipation and expectation around the Brisbane Heat this season and it will be interesting to see how they cope with that. They have signed some big names who should be firing them towards the title and they have also acquired the services of Darren Lehmann as their coach, so this shouldn’t be a side turning up and going through the motions. These should be genuine title contenders.
How deep they will go in their quest for the title we might get the chance to find out here. I say that because if they are really going to challenge then their bowlers will need to find ways to defend this ground. It isn’t easy, and the venue is a clear disadvantage for deep runs but with six games here they can’t rely on batting second all the time. I don’t think we need to worry about their batting so it is over to their bowlers.
Sydney Thunder
I actually think this is a big match for the Sydney Thunder as well. I say that because they are a side who needs to set the tone. If they get off to a good start in a season then they generally ride the positivity and put up a serious challenge, but if they start badly then they have been known to cave in and have their race run before the competitive stuff has really got going. It might be that this one doesn’t turn out to be significant, but with their next match as soon as Thursday I think it will be.
There needs to be a strengthening in all departments of this Thunder side under Shane Bond. You would think with the Kiwi as the coach they will be fine with the ball, and they look about as strong with the bat in terms of depth as I can remember for many a season. Optimism should be high within the Thunder Nation, but as I said before that can disappear quite quickly if they get off to the wrong start.
Place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Brisbane Heat are going to give debuts to Tom Banton, Zahir Khan and the home man Ben Laughlin but there will be no place for the Test trio of James Pattinson, Marnus Labaschagne and Joe Burns. AB de Villiers doesn’t arrive until later in the competition.
Sydney Thunder have Alex Hales in position to get started but Chris Morris will arrive in time for their second match, having been competing in the Mzansi Super League recently. Usman Khawaja is available while Chris Tremain and Alex Ross could debut, the latter against his former franchise.
Betting
I’m expecting a pretty competitive start to the campaign here with both these sides having a point to prove to live up to their own expectations. Brisbane Heat are pretty strong favourites for this match but I can’t be getting involved in them until we’ve seen what their bowlers are like on this ground. Maybe later in the competition we can but in truth I never like taking the match outcome here as it is so hard to defend.
That isn’t portrayed in the boundary line in this match which sits at just 36.5. These two teams are loaded with batsmen, incredibly good ones among them, and in truth there isn’t a huge amount in either bowling attack to scare the opposition. I expect this to be a high scoring match. The Test pitch here earlier in the summer looked an absolute pearler and I don’t see why this one won’t be. On a pretty small ground and a great wicket, with power everywhere you look with the bat, I’m on the over on that line.
Tips
WON – Back Over 36.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
