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Melbourne Stars vs Brisbane Heat: BBL07 preview and prediction

Roar Guru
2nd January, 2018
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Chris Lynn of the Heat raises his bat after defeating the Hobart Hurricanes during the Big Bash League match between the Brisbane Heat and the Hobart Hurricanes at the Gabba in Brisbane, Friday, Dec. 30, 2016. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Roar Guru
2nd January, 2018
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1481 Reads

The Melbourne Stars will be desperate for a win when they host the Brisbane Heat in their first home game at the MCG on Tuesday night. Here is my full preview, as well as The Prophet’s pick.

Melbourne Stars (0-2) vs Brisbane Heat (2-2) at The MCG

Head to Head: Played 7, Brisbane Heat 5, Melbourne Stars 2
Last five: Brisbane Heat 4, Melbourne Stars 1

Melbourne Stars (13-man squad)
John Hastings (c), Michael Beer, Scott Boland, Liam Bowe, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Luke Wright, Adam Zampa.

Brisbane Heat (13-man squad)
Brendon McCullum (c), Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Chris Lynn, Jimmy Peirson, Alex Ross, Yasir Shah, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson.

The Melbourne Stars will be looking for their first win at the third time of asking when they tackle the Heat.

The Stars came into BBL07 as one of the tournament favourites, however, have been well under par in losses to the Heat and Scorchers on the road.

The Brisbane Heat’s form has been inconsistent with two wins and two losses as they look to find some consistency in their cricket. They are on a quick back up from an embarrassing 56-run loss to the Strikers, where they were bundled out for just 91 on New Year’s Eve.

Big batting battle: Kevin Pietersen vs Chris Lynn
This is a battle of two big guns who have yet to really set the BBL on fire, as they have in the past. Pietersen usually bats well at the MCG compared to some of the faster wickets and will look to control the Stars’ innings from No.3.

Lynn will still have steam coming out of his ears after he was wrongfully dismissed for a duck in Adelaide to a terrible caught behind decision. He will likely have to confront facing spin first up a lot this season.

Kevin Pietersen for the Melbourne Stars

(image: AAP)

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Big bowling battle: Michael Beer vs Yasir Shah
Both Beer and Shah are very experienced competitors who are coming off outstanding last start performances. Beer controlled the powerplay expertly against the Scorchers, taking a miserly 1/14 from his four overs. Elsewhere, Shah made an immediate impact for Brisbane in his debut taking 2/18 against the Strikers.

Ground Dynamic: The MCG
The MCG curator might still be on tilt after all the flak he received for the wicket of the recently completed Boxing Day Test match. However, the good news for him is he will receive no such criticism for a similar pitch in a T20 game. The MCG is shorter straight down the ground, so expect the fast bowlers to dig the ball into the pitch and try and protect the longer square boundaries.

The Prophet’s pick (8-6): Melbourne Stars
“The Stars have stunk it up early, however, tonight they should fire at home.

The Prophet’s ten-unit bank (Running Tally = – 29 Units)

  • 3 Units on Joe Burns to score 25+ runs @ $2.10
  • 3 Units Stars to win by 1-20 runs or 1-4 wickets @ $5.50
  • 2 Units Stars to hit the most 6s @ $2.25
  • 1 Unit high bat/bowler double for the Stars of Maxwell/Stoinis @ $25
  • 1 Unit high bat/bowler double for the Heat of McCullum/Shah @ $14
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