The Big Bash League regular season comes to a close on Wednesday and it does so with a triple header of action, a day which begins at The Gabba where the Brisbane Heat host the defending champions Sydney Sixers.
There isn’t a huge amount to play for over the course of the day but the Sixers are a team playing for something as they are battling for second spot in the table which would give them the safety net of two shots to make the final should they need it.
Brisbane Heat
We have known for a few days that the Brisbane Heat season will come to an end here. They will want to go down fighting though, especially as this match is taking place in Brisbane in front of their own fans. We all know that Covid has played a huge factor in their demise this term. Whether they were good enough to make the top five without that we don’t really know but there is little doubt that the Heat would have expected better heading into the campaign.
They can still go out with a bang though although if that is going to happen then their bowlers need to come to the party. There was hope when they got their two Australia Test squad bowlers back but they have been hit everywhere so far. The Heat batting still isn’t firing like we know it can but it hasn’t been too bad recently but unfortunately too bad hasn’t been good enough because of how poorly they have bowled.
Sydney Sixers
The Sydney Sixers know that they have earned the right to defend their title at the playoffs later in the week but they won’t want to be playing knockout cricket from the off. If they are to avoid that they need to match the result of Sydney Thunder later in the day and ensure the current advantage they have over their city rivals on net run rate is not evaporated. That will mean they head to Saturday’s qualifier rather than Sunday’s knockout.
The positive for the Sixers is that their top order has started to deliver the goods again but they will be concerned at the way their bowlers were got after on a used pitch in their last game against the Adelaide Strikers. Usually this is the time where we begin to see the best of the Sixers though and if that trend continues here then they are going to be hard to beat. Wherever they end up, they won’t want to go into the finals off the back of successive losses.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
The Brisbane Heat will have Marnus Labuschagne available for the first time this season. He is likely to come into the side for Nathan McSweeney unless they are going to use his leg spin in which case he could replace Matthew Kuhnemann and bolster the batting.
Sydney Sixers also have a Test srar back in their sqiad for the first time this season as Nathan Lyon has been named in their squad. Jordan Silk is also back from injury while Steve O’Keefe could be recalled to the side as well.
Betting
I’ll go with one bet here which comes in the form of the player performance of Dan Christian. There isn’t enough of a competitive nature on this match for me to get stuck into the outcome of it or some of the other markets that I like to get stuck into. That is no bad thing though because the Australia international has a performance line which looks well within his reach at just 31.5, a line plenty low enough for a 3D cricketer.
Christian isn’t just a 3D cricketer though. He batted at four in the previous game and while that might have been to get him up to speed for the finals, he should bat fairly high here too. He won’t need a huge amount of runs to be in the game here because he is likely to bowl a decent set of overs, and as wickets tire he tends to come into his own, while he is always in the big positions in the field where he can contribute to the scoring with catches. He could cover this with the bat or the ball so with a combination of the two likely to be on our side I’ll play the over here.
Tips
WON – Back D.Christian’s Performance – Over 31.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
