The Queensland Bulls will host the Tasmanian Tigers at the Allan Border Field in the Shield Final starting on Friday this week.
The Bulls earned the right to host the final after topping the ladder. They won six of their ten matches this season, drawing three and losing one.
Tasmania secured second spot from Victoria after beating them in Hobart last week. That was also their fifth win of the Shield season, to go with two draws and three losses.
Queensland will enter the match as favourites, having beaten Tasmania comfortably both at home and away this season. They beat them by seven wickets in Hobart back in November and followed that up with a 206-run win at the Gabba last month.
The batting line-ups
Queensland have a strong batting line-up, led by Test discards Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns as openers.
After a slow start to the summer, Renshaw peeled off three Shield centuries in a row late in the season.
Burns has had a stellar Shield season, averaging 57, though he missed four matches after injuring his groin during the big Bash. That injury arguably cost him a spot in Australia’s touring squad to South Africa.
Number three Marnus Labuschagne is the Bulls’ Shield’s leading run scorer this season with 758 at 39. He comes into the final in form, having scored a century against New South Wales last week.
Jake Doran has been Tasmania’s standout performer with the bat, scoring 722 runs at 45.
The other Tasmanian batsmen have struggled for consistency, so Queensland look to have the edge in the run-scoring department.
The bowling line-ups
Michael Neser (37 wickets at 19), Luke Feldman (33 at 20) and leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson (32 at 34) have been the Bulls’ best performers with the ball this season.
For Tasmania, Tom Rogers (35 wickets at 17), Jackson Bird (35 at 20) and Simon Rainbird (35 at 27) have been the most effective.
The bowling line-ups look fairly even.
Prediction
Playing at home, the Bulls’ stronger batting line-up should secure them their eighth Shield title, and their first since the 2011-12 season.
Max Mayer
Roar Guru
Queensland have the edge on paper but wouldn't rule out a Tassie win if their bowlers can get on top.
JamesH
Roar Guru
That's not a bad call for next season, Burgy (Ben plays for my local club, rate him highly) but I think the selectors will go the 'safe' option and back Doolan's experience for the final.
BurgyGreen
Guest
McDermott in my view has the highest potential ceiling of any of our batsmen. To be completely honest, Doolan is barely first class standard anymore, apart from the occasional great knock. I'd be dropping Doolan, bringing McDermott back into the middle order, and opening with Webster.
Kris
Guest
Normally a draw. Qld to get in and stay in until the match is dead.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Doran has done a pretty decent job of opening, it wouldn't be the worst move in the world. Besides, worse for you = better for us.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I have to confess, it took me a while to realise McDermott had even been dropped. He's been in the squad for the last couple of matches but hasn't made the final cut. I'd love him to play, although I can't see him edging out Doolan for the final. Despite Dools' quiet second half of the season he's got too much big-game experience to be dropped now. Tassie is also lacking top three batsmen but has plenty of middle order players. If Doolan goes then Doran probably comes up to open, and no one would want to mess around with his batting right now.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Yeah, you did get him too, you greedy buggers! I was going to mention Boyce as well, but I think we've actually been better off in the end with that move. Yeah, he has done better than I've probably given him credit for, but you'd like to see more from possibly our most naturally talented batsmen. He still is very young though, big ask at this point. Other issue is, like Renshaw, when he misses out he tends to miss out badly. A few more scores in the 20-40 range, rather than 0-20s can go a long way sometimes. Hmm, I'll admit I wasn't paying all that much attention to his Shield form, but his Big Bash form over the past couple of years shows he can't have been doing too much wrong. Find that a pretty interesting move though, given Doolan's fall in particular, and I hadn't seen Webster produce all that much from what I can recall.
JamesH
Roar Guru
We'll happily take Milenko, too! You've been rough on Heazlett, given he averaged 40 in six appearances and has made 100 and (basically) two 50s in his last four matches. I think McDermott was dropped for Webster. Probably fair, since he hadn't set the world on fire, although the timing was weird since his last innings was 75*. I don't think he's injured because he played in a 1st grade semi final last weekend and a Futures League game before that.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Tassie's bowlers probably just have the edge, but I wouldn't say it's a significant margin - Neser and Feldman are taking out lineups pretty much on their own. Batting-wise, we're definitely ahead, and I'd say that we're not quite at our peak there - 5 of our top 7 have fired well, but Heazlett and Peirson are really yet to stand up in the way that the others have. If they get it right on the day, I think we can fairly comfortably bat Tassie out of the game. Where's McDermott (you're welcome for him btw)? Is he injured, or just out of the team for some inexplicable reason?
JamesH
Roar Guru
Fair summary. Queensland deserves to be the favourite after a really consistent year. I think Tassie's bowling lineup is a little more dynamic, so the battle will probably be their bowlers vs the Bulls' batsmen. The challenge for the Tigers will be preventing partnerships - Queensland haven't relied on one or two guys to get runs and different batsmen have stood up at different times. Get through Burns and Renshaw and you still have to deal with Labuschange, Heazlett and Hemphrey. The efforts of Doran, Wade and, to a lesser degree, Silk and Webster have helped to hide the fact that Bailey and Doolan fell away in the back half of the season. It's great that Tassie hasn't been relying on them but in a final you want your most experienced batsmen to stand up.