The Big Bash League finals begins on Friday and they start with a knockout match between the Brisbane Heat and the Adelaide Strikers at The Gabba in a clash where the winners will face the Sydney Thunder on Sunday and the losers are done for the year.
The stakes couldn’t be any higher for this match as both men embark on what they hope will be a four game mini season which can end with the title a week on Saturday. This should be an extremely competitive contest as a result.
Brisbane Heat
The knockout stages of the competition start officially starts here but Brisbane Heat have already played a knockout game having had to win their last regular season match to make it into this stage of the campaign. They saw off the Perth Scorchers in fine style and will be hoping to be very competitive from here on in. Such was the margin of their win over the Scorchers, they moved from outside the play-off places into fourth to they even get to host this match.
If the Heat are going to win this match they will need a strong bowling performance you feel. They got that against the Scorchers and to be fair to them they generally utilise their bowling options pretty well. If they then set the innings up with the bat like they did against the Scorchers then Brisbane could be very hard to beat in this match. There is often a side in sport who sneak into the postseason late on and go all the way. Brisbane will be hoping it is them.
Adelaide Strikers
If the Brisbane Heat have propelled themselves into the finals, the Adelaide Strikers more limped in, but they are here and will be looking to do some serious damage now that they are here. They will have to get their head around the fact that they have to go on the road for every game they play for the remainder of the season but given that they were sitting ducks on the final day of the regular season, the fact they made it through will be more than enough to spur them on.
The big problem with the Strikers this season has been the up and down nature of their batting displays. They certainly won’t be able to afford a bad one here because this is a ground where you generally need to score well to win and with there not being any cricket here since the last Test match there is no reason why the wicket won’t play well. If they do bat well then at least the Strikers know they have the bowling ability to do some damage.
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Team News
As you would expect for a match of this magnitude the Brisbane Heat are at full strength for this contest. Ben Laughlin came in for the previous game but it might be that Morne Morkel gets a recall. Jack Wildermuth will also be wanting a start.
Danny Briggs was left out of the squad for the match against the Sydney Thunder last time out but he is likely to get a recall for the Adelaide Strikers. Matt Renshaw will be hoping to come back into the side against his former team.
Betting
This should be a cracking contest because the stakes are so high. Adelaide Strikers will be confident of the victory in this match having beaten the Brisbane Heat twice this season but I actually think the tables will get turned here. To be fair to the Heat they should have won the first match between the two from a seemingly impossible position but were no match for the Strikers in the second one, but this is knockout cricket and that is significant.
I say that because Brisbane Heat have already played a knockout match and they have come through it positively to get into these finals. Technically the Adelaide Strikers’ final regular season match wasn’t a must win one because they lost it and still made it through but I think most people had it like that and the fact they were well beaten suggests the pressure got to them a little bit. That concerns me from a Strikers point of view. I’m also not convinced their bowling is quite at the level it was earlier in the competition and with the Adelaide batting unreliable I think there is more to like about the Heat in this opening match of the finals.
Tips
WON – Back Brisbane Heat to beat Adelaide Strikers for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Sky Bet
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