The final match in Brisbane in this Big Bash League season takes place on Friday when the Brisbane Heat host the Adelaide Strikers in a battle between bottom of the table and top of it.
It is fair to say this season has been a bit of a write off for the Heat but they won their last match and if they can win their last three and win them well they might yet sneak into the semi-final but to say that would be unlikely would be something of an understatement.
Chris Lynn has been the standout player for the Heat but he needs some support from those around him. Lendl Simmons showed signs of life in the last game which could be significant but once again Brisbane need something in their bowling attack because they have offered nothing with the ball so far. The Heat have named an unchanged squad for this match.
Adelaide Strikers have been almost flawless in the tournament so far. They have only lost one of their five matches and they can be forgiven for that given that it was on a horror wicket in Sydney against the Thunder.
The Strikers will have to do without Kane Richardson for the rest of this tournament though as he is now away on Australia ODI duty. Ben Laughlin and Adil Rashid will need to go well for the remainder of the event if the Strikers are to go all the way you feel.
We’ve seen three matches on this ground and they’ve all been won by the chasing side and there is no surprise in that because the wicket is so good at The Gabba these days that defending the ground is almost impossible unless you have a gun bowling attack and few sides in this tournament do.
Given that we don’t know who will be batting second until after the toss it makes betting on the match outcome more difficult so not for the first time this season I will head for the sixes market.
So far in the three matches on this ground we’ve had sixes totals of 14, 16 and 18 so you could argue that a 12 line is too low but when you factor in that Adelaide are a big hitting line up with plenty of depth coupled with Brisbane’s awful bowling attack I’m fully expecting to see a dozen sixes again here if not a few more.
Back 12 or more sixes for a 5/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
Blog cricket YTD: +2.67pts
