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BBL07: Sydney Sixers vs Brisbane Heat preview and prediction

Roar Guru
17th January, 2018
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Carlos Braithwaite of the Sixers gestures as he celebrates after the the LBW of Usman Khawaja from his ball during the Big Bash League (BBL) cricket match between the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney, Saturday, January 13, 2018. (AAP Image/David Moir)
Roar Guru
17th January, 2018
0
1378 Reads

The Brisbane Heat confront a must-win clash, as they take on the Sydney Sixers at the SCG tonight. Here is my full preview, as well as The Prophet’s pick.

Sydney Sixers (2-6) v Brisbane Heat (4-4) at the SCG

Head to head history: Sydney Sixes 6, Brisbane Heat 1
Last five: Sydney Sixers 4, Brisbane Heat 1

Sydney Sixers 13-man squad
Johan Botha (c), Nic Maddinson, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Jordan Silk, Sean Abbott, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill, Joe Denly, Micky Edwards, Daniel Sams, Ben Dwarshuis, Carlos Brathwaite

Brisbane Heat 13-man squad
Brendon McCullum (c), Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Jason Flores, Sam Heazlett, Shadab Khan, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Jimmy Peirson, Alex Ross, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson

Preview
The Heat have their finals hopes on the line when they travel south to take on a resurgent Sydney Sixes at the SCG tonight. The Heat have dropped to 4-4 after losing their last two games, and need to win their remaining two to ensure a finals spot.

The Sixers are only playing for pride, but did manage to get off the bottom of the table with a convincing eight-wicket win over the Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Tuesday.

Big batting battle: Daniel Hughes vs Brendon McCullum
Two very different types of opening batsmen go head-to-head here, with an accumulator in Hughes up against the explosive McCullum. Hughes has found his form in the past two games, finishing not out on 66 and 49 in winning run chases against the Thunder and Stars.

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The Heat have been increasingly reliant on McCullum of late without the services of Chris Lynn, but his 53 was not enough against the Hurricanes to secure a victory for his team.

Brisbane Heat captain Brendon McCullum loves the Twenty20 format

(AAP Image/David Mariuz)

Big bowling battle: Nathan Lyon vs Yasir Shah
Two quality Test match spinners lock horns here, with Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Pakistan’s Yasir Shah vital to their team’s chances. Shah might have only picked up four wickets in five games, but he has been a banker for the Heat, going for just 5.9 runs per over in his 20 overs.

Lyon was mesmerising against the Stars, claiming the big wickets of Ben Dunk, Kevin Pietersen and Peter Handscomb in taking 3/18 from four overs, to press his claims for a return to the Australian ODI side.

Ground dynamic: The SCG
The SCG wicket on Saturday for the Sydney Smash was a little bit up and down, however the Sixers ran down the Thunder score of 157 on the final ball. Expect batsmen to try and target the short square boundary, with the bowlers looking to bowl a line and length to defend the vast expanses of the members square boundary side of the field.

The Prophet’s Pick (16-15): Brisbane Heat
“The Heat need to win to stay in the finals race, so I’m expecting them to be at their best tonight, which should be a fraction too good for an improving Sixers side.”

The Prophet’s ten-unit bank (running tally – 46 Units)
3.5 Units: Brisbane Heat to win by 1-20 runs or 1-4 wickets at $5
3.5 Units: Alex Ross to score 25+ into a Heat win at $3.40
1.5 Units: Sixers high/bat bowlers double to be Dwarshuis/Hughes at $20.25
1.5 Units: Heat high bat/bowler double to be McCullum/Doggett at $16.50

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