The Brisbane Heat will look to maintain their top spot in the points table when they take on the Sydney Thunder on Tuesday. The game will be played at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Sydney Thunder and Brisbane Heat will meet in the sixth match of the 2023 Big Bash League at Manuka Oval. For the Thunder, this is the opening game of this year's tournament after they were eliminated in the Eliminator last season. Brisbane Heat have won one and kept one scoreless so far this season. The game starts at 7:15pm Canberra time.
Sydney Thunder were inconsistent last year but still picked up enough points to get into the play-offs. Some of their young players will be more experienced ahead of this year's competition and we expect them to get off to a successful start.
Brisbane Heat traveled all the way to Adelaide only to see no play at all in game three on Saturday, but that means they still go into this game unbeaten after two games. However, it will be very difficult to maintain the unbeaten streak.
Match Preview
Sydney Thunder (THU) will face Brisbane Heat (HEA) in the sixth game of the 2023-24 BBL on Tuesday (December 12) at Manuka Oval in Canberra. Heat have won one of two games so far, with the other game canceled due to rain. Thunder will play their first game of the season.
Thunder won seven of 14 games last season and finished fourth in the points standings. They lost the Eliminator game to the Heat by eight runs using the DLS method. Chris Green has retained his place as team captain. Cameron Bancroft, Liam Hatcher and Zaman Khan have been signed for this season. David Warner will be available for selection after the end of the Test series against Pakistan.
Heat's last game against the Adelaide Strikers was canceled due to rain. They won the opening game against the Melbourne Stars by a comfortable margin of 103 runs. Heat scored 214 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs, with the help of Colin Munro, who scored 99 runs off 61 deliveries. Mitchell Swepson was the pick of the bowlers for the Heat with three wickets for 23 runs in 3.1 overs. Michael Neser and Xavier Bartlett took two wickets each.
Pitch Report
The Manuka Oval ground in Canberra is likely to have plenty to offer the bowlers. The average first innings score in the last five T20 games was 135 runs. The team that wins the toss could attempt to bowl.
Toss Prediction
Almost two-thirds of the T20 matches at Manuka Oval have been won by the team that fielded first, so we can expect the Thunder and Heat skippers to choose to bowl first in this match.
Head to Head
Both teams have played 18 games against each other so far. The Brisbane Heat have a better record with 11 wins, while the Sydney Thunder have won seven.
Weather Report
Cloudy and wet conditions are forecast in Canberra for Tuesday evening. The temperature drops from 26 degrees to 21 degrees, but the chances of interruptions in rain are very low.
Match Prediction
With most pundits expecting a close game in Canberra, this game could well go the distance and be concluded in the 20th over of the second innings. Brisbane Heat got off to an excellent start against the Melbourne Stars, but we expect Sydney Thunder to be tougher opponents. Our prediction is a close game where the Sydney Thunder batting line-up will do enough to win the game.
Sydney Thunder beat Brisbane Heat
Venue Details
Bowlers generally like to play in this spot, where it is often about momentum for the quicks rather than great pace for the batters. Any score above 160 in the first innings of the game will be difficult to achieve in the second half of the game.
Betting Tips
Although the Sydney Thunder have put together a strong squad, it will be difficult for them to defeat a strong opponent like Brisbane. We think the latter has good player balance.
Bet on the Sydney Thunder to win.
Probable Playing XI
Sydney Thunder
M Gilkes (wk), AD Hales, CT Bancroft, Blake Nikitaras, Oliver Davies, AI Ross, DR Sams, N McAndrew, Chris Green (C), Z Khan, Tanveer Sangha.
Brisbane Heat
C Munro (C), Matt Renshaw, Sam Billings (wk), Max Bryant, Jimmy Peirson, PI Walter, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, SH Johnson, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann.
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Sydney Thunder Key Players
Oliver Davies – The 23-year-old batsman had a breakthrough last year with three half-centuries and a season-long strike rate of 133.73.
Matthew Gilkes – The left-hander doubles as wicket-keeper and opener for Brisbane Heat and has a top score of 93 in his entire T20 career.
Chris Green - the captain and off-spinner made his international debut in India last month and has the ability to impact the game with both bat and ball.
Nathan McAndrew – The bowling all-rounder often receives the ball during the opening and final overs of the innings. Last season, he took three wickets in one over in a BBL game.
Brisbane Heat Key Players
Colin Munro - The opener has scored over 10,300 T20 runs throughout his career and will be looking to build on the 99 he scored in the win over the Melbourne Stars.
Sam Billings – The all-format England goalkeeper-batsman averaged 40.57 in the 2021-22 BBL and is considered a clean striker of the ball.
Xavier Bartlett – The 24-year-old right-arm fast medium bowler got off to an excellent start in this BBL 2023 with two wickets in the 15th over of the Melbourne Stars innings.
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