Preview
Brisbane Heat has had an expectedly poor start to their season with two losses in two games. They were at the receiving end of two excellent all-round performances from Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder and gear up to face Adelaide Strikers, who have had a mixed start to their season.
The Strikers, on the other hand, have had one win and two losses in their three matches so far. While that certainly looks far from ideal, the Strikers have better quality on paper and should ideally be doing a lot better. The indifferent form of the middle-order hasn’t quite helped.
The Strikers have failed to consistently provide a boost to totals in the death and it’s here that the Heat could sense an opening if they can get the top-order wiped out soon enough.
Team news
The Strikers have Rashid Khan for a fair few games and were bolstered by the return of Alex Carey as well. But Carey will be unavailable for this game due to border restrictions in Brisbane. So, they will need other big players to be on top of their game, which they haven’t been. With no Travis Head and Michael Neser, the Strikers seem to lack overall quality, but should still be able to breeze through this game. They might ponder if Danny Briggs is worth a place in the XI.
The Heat have a pretty depleted outfit with Ben Cutting too leaving. Josh Lalor, Matt Renshaw, James Pattinson are the other big guys to leave the setup this season. They might opt to open with Chris Lynn this time despite his half-century at no.3 last game. Lynn is a major impact player in the side and needs to be on in the powerplay phase.
Overall squads
Adelaide Strikers: Danny Briggs, Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head, Spencer Johnson, Rashid Khan, Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Liam O’Connor, Matt Renshaw, Phil Salt, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Daniel Worrall, Jon Wells
Brisbane Heat: Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Tom Cooper, Lewis Gregory, Sam Heazlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben Laughlin, Dan Lawrence, Chris Lynn, Simon Milenko, Morne Morkel, Jimmy Peirson, Lachlan Pfeffer, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mark Steketee, Connor Sully, Mitch Swepson, Jack Wildermuth, Matthew Willans, Jack Wood
Probable XI
Brisbane Heat: Chris Lynn (c), Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Daniel Lawrence, Tom Cooper, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Simon Milenko, Jack Wood, Xavier Bartlett, Ben Laughlin, Matthew Kuhnemann
Adelaide Strikers: Phil Salt, Jake Weatherald, Matt Renshaw, Harry Nielsen (c & wk), Jonathan Wells, Matthew Short, Rashid Khan, Daniel Worrall, Danny Briggs, Peter Siddle, Wes Agar, Liam Scott
Key players
Chris Lynn: At the start of the season, Brisbane Heat made this bizarre call to have the Australian big-hitter Chris Lynn batting at no.3. A regular opener who can tee off from the word go, Lynn’s demotion is a surprising factor especially given his woes against spin. With Rashid Khan to counter this game, the Heat need Lynn to maximise the batting powerplay. Taking the Power Surge later might also not be really effective if Lynn has to counter spin.
Peter Siddle: A genuine wicket-taker even at this age, Peter Siddle has six wickets at an average of 14 this season, including the best figures of 5/16. Even with Rashid Khan’s impact not quite high, Siddle has managed to stay at the peak and deliver for the Strikers. His role in this game would be to contain Lynn, Bryant, and Lawrence. With Rashid for company, the Strikers have a potent pace-spin bowling combo for the middle overs as well.