The Big Bash League heads towards Christmas with one more match on Sunday as the competition heads to The Gabba for the first time this term as the defending champions Brisbane Heat take on the Adelaide Strikers.
These two met in the final qualifier in the playoffs last term where the Heat were pretty rampant. They will be looking for a repeat of that while Adelaide will be going for revenge. Both teams won their last outing so this one is nicely set up.
Brisbane Heat
The Brisbane Heat have only played one match in their title defence but they won it and did so without too much in the way of fuss. That was only against the Melbourne Stars though which isn’t much of a form guide, so we might find out a little more about the defending champions in this encounter. There is a feeling that Brisbane don’t look as good on paper this term but they showed in that run last season that they can ride the back of individual efforts.
There is no doubt that the Heat were undermanned a touch in their opening game but things have taken an upward turn in that regard ahead of this one so there is every reason to think that we are going to see an even better performance from the Heat in this match. They do generally find a way to get the job done with the ball so the reinforcements that they have on offer with the bat could well make them extremely tough to beat here.
Adelaide Strikers
The Adelaide Strikers have a loss and a win on their ledger this season but they will know that they should have won both of their matches. They snatched defeat from the deepest of jaws of victory against the Sydney Thunder in their first game but to their credit bounced back to ease past the Melbourne Stars in their second one. If they can win here they would go into Christmas with a winning record to their name which is no bad thing.
Two trends have been immediately obvious in terms of the approach that the Strikers are going to take this season. The first one is that they are going to go hard with the bat regardless of the possible trouble that could get them into. The second is that they are going to ride a large chunk of spin in their bowling innings and if either or both approaches come off they are going to be tough to beat. They do need to be cut some slack when it does all go wrong though such is the risk they are prepared to take.
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Key Players
Colin Munro was a huge player with the bat in hand for the Brisbane Heat last season and after missing the opening game with a minor injury, the defending champions will be hoping that their overseas player delivers a strong showing with the bat here.
D’Arcy Short might have created a selection headache for the Adelaide Strikers with his excellent innings in the last game. He came in for Chris Lynn who could be fit here but it would be extremely harsh to leave Short out of the side.
Betting
We have two very aggressive batting units on show here and nothing in terms of seriously troubling bowling units so I’m expecting the batters to dominate in this one. The question then comes in how we play that and I think the best way to attack this one is by going after the boundaries where the line is 37.5 which doesn’t look all that high for what is usually a good white ball wicket at The Gabba and given the style the two sides are looking to employ.
Brisbane go into this match having just plundered 18 boundaries at the MCG which is a whole lot bigger than this ground and they have the likes of Colin Munro and Nathan McSweeney to definitely come in here and Tom Banton could play as well. Adelaide Strikers have made it perfectly clear how they are going to approach their batting innings so I have to think the boundaries are going to flow here and I like the over on this line.
Tips
Back Over 37.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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