As ever on the final day of the year we have a Big Bash League match to enjoy and as is becoming tradition the Adelaide Strikers host the New Year’s Eve match. This year they play host to the Brisbane Heat in what looks a tasty contest.
The two sides go into this match on four points for the season so whoever comes out on top will join the Perth Scorchers on six points going into 2018 but the losers will still be in a decent enough position which should all them both to relax and show their best stuff.
Adelaide Strikers
The Strikers have only played two matches so far in the tournament but they have won them both and they have done so pretty emphatically too. They have seen off the Sydney Thunder in Adelaide before travelling to Sydney to see off the Sydney Sixers in a match which got closer than they would have liked but one which they had plenty in hand in.
If there is a concern it is very much in the lack of depth to their batting and that needs to be addressed especially with Travis Head likely to disappear on international duty soon. On the flip side they look a pretty decent outfit with the ball and have already shown they are comfortable defending even the lower totals.
Brisbane Heat
Brisbane Heat are two from three on the season so far. They saw off the Melbourne Stars in their opening match before going to the Melbourne Renegades and losing and then they followed that up by seeing off the Sydney Thunder which means they head into this contest looking for back to back wins for the first time this season.
On paper at least the Heat are probably set up in the opposite way to the Strikers. They have a powerful batting line up which keeps on coming at teams but their bowling can be expensive with the exception of the two classy leg spinners they have. Their test is to try and take regular wickets to keep sides in check.
Team News
The Strikers have named an unchanged squad for this match and barring something extraordinary it would be a surprise if they don’t play the same side which saw off the Sixers last time out.
Brisbane Heat will be without Shadab Khan for the foreseeable future as he is away in New Zealand with Pakistan. Yasir Shah replaces him in the squad while Cameron Gannon is also included.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
As you would expect matches between these two sides are usually high scoring and I’m not expecting this one to be any different given the occasion and the freedom that the pair can play with.
There were 21 sixes when the sides met on this ground last year and while I’m not expecting quite that many here I do expect to see a large number of them especially as there is a women’s match earlier in the day which could lead to the longer boundaries being in a bit further than normal. There’s no need to run through the hitting power on show here. It keeps on coming and I expect the sixes to do that too.
Alex Ross is having a good tournament with the bat and against his former side on his former home ground he could be overpriced at 17/2 to top score for the Brisbane Heat. He loves a sweep shot which is perfect against the plethora of Adelaide spinners and especially for this ground where the square boundaries are tiny. There are a few who could go well in this Heat line up but Ross is hitting it as well as any of them and at the price he’s worth a go to be the top bat.
Tips
Back Over 12.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back it here:
Back A.Ross Top Brisbane Heat Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 9.50 with Betfair
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
