It is Australia Day on Tuesday and what better way to celebrate the occasion than with a triple header of action in the Big Bash League on a day when the regular season comes to a close! The opening match of the three comes from the Adelaide Oval where the Brisbane Heat take on the Perth Scorchers.
The Scorchers know that whatever happens here they will have two goes at making it into the Big Bash final and if the finals are being played on home grounds a four-point win here will see them host any matches they are involved in. The stakes are even higher for the Brisbane Heat. They have to win else their season is done.
Brisbane Heat
This has been a rollercoaster of a season for the Brisbane Heat but the 13 matches that have gone before are largely irrelevant now, it is all about this one in terms of their participation beyond this match. If they win they put themselves in the top five and if they win with the Bash Boost point they will definitely be into the postseason. Anything other than a win and their season ends here so this is basically the start of knockout cricket for the Brisbane outfit.
The worry for the Heat fans is that they have seen their side win just two of their last five matches and both of those were against the Melbourne Renegades, who have looked a little out of their depth for much of the campaign. If Brisbane are going to come through this they need a complete performance from their entire team and will need their very big players such as Chris Lynn, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory and Morne Morkel to stand up and make sure they are counted.
Perth Scorchers
The Perth Scorchers do not yet know if they will host the Qualifier in the postseason should they win this match and claim the Bash Boost point, but it is beginning to look increasingly likely that home grounds will be used. Given how well they play at the Optus Stadium it would be a major advantage if they can secure that home field for that match and then the final should they win it. That will give the Scorchers plenty of incentive to perform well here and deliver the goods.
After going without a win in their opening four matches, the Scorchers have now won eight of their last nine and are without a doubt the team in form at the minute. Whatever happens here they will finish in the top two but they won’t want to go into the finals off the back of a loss. The Scorchers are arguably batting as well as any team in the competition right now and with no real weakness in their bowling attack they look like an outfit who is ready to claim their title back.
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Team News
It comes as no surprise that the Brisbane Heat have named an unchanged squad for this match after demolishing the Melbourne Renegades last time out. They have used their X-Factor better than any other team this season and it will be interesting to see who they name for that purpose here.
It is also not a surprise that the Perth Scorchers are going into this match with the same 16-man squad they used in the win over the Melbourne Stars last time out. Unless they have a niggle to protect they are likely to name the same starting XI too.
Betting
I’m expecting plenty of boundaries to be hit in what should be a pretty competitive match here. There is a bit of a heatwave going through this part of Australia at the minute so the ball is naturally going to fly a bit and everything will be fast and firm in terms of the outfield. There is a chance that the pitch might be a bit slower although the rain here on Monday won’t have done the pace of the wicket any harm with a bit of luck.
Ultimately these are two pretty aggressive batting line ups who don’t really have much in the way of quality spin to bring the scoring rates down. Fawad Ahmed and Mitch Swepson are in the ranks to be playing but neither have pulled up trees so far this season. The way the top orders of these two sides stand and deliver I’m expecting the boundaries to be peppered early on and throughout the power surges. With the square boundaries never not being in play here I think a 38.5 line, slightly higher than the ideal admittedly, can be covered. There was a match here between the Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers on Sunday where 159 was the winning score and that had 38 boundaries. These two can go one better in a day game with plenty on it.
Tips
WON – Back Over 38.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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