Melbourne Renegades vs Brisbane Heat: Big Bash League cricket live scores, blog

With their finals hopes hanging by a thread, the Brisbane Heat visit the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium for the final game of the BBL09 home-and-away season. Join The Roar for live coverage, with live scores and a blog of the match from 2:45pm (AEDT).

The equation is simple for the Heat: if they want to play finals, they’ll need to overcome the bottom-placed Renegades this Monday afternoon.

A win will see them host the Hurricanes in the Eliminator on Thursday, while a loss would result in another wasted season, something the Heat are becoming known for.

If their recent form – a season-defining win over the minor premiers – is anything to go by, then the Heat should be playing finals next week, but as shown before, Brisbane have proven to be one of the most inconsistent teams in the competition.

The Heat were nothing short of dominant in their last outing on Saturday, posting 5-186 at the MCG and following it up by dismantling the ladder-leading Stars for just 115.

Their thumping win – which most importantly boosted their net run rate – provides them with the opportunity to host an elimination final on Thursday night, but first they must deal with the Renegades, who Aaron Finch said are out to ruin other sides’ finals chances.

Though a century to the Renegades’ skipper wasn’t enough to spoil the Sixers’ top-two chances, Melbourne – despite only winning two games this season – seem to have finally recaptured some of their title-winning form at the back end of the season.

One of those two wins came against none other than the Brisbane Heat, a match that saw the Heat record the worst batting collapse in the history of the Big Bash, losing 10-36 and putting their finals hopes on life support.

After the Renegades posted 6-164, the Heat started their innings in tremendous fashion and looked set for an easy win, with Chris Lynn and Sam Heazlett leading their side to 0-84 in just under six overs.

Then, as is the beauty of T20 cricket, it all changed very quickly as the Heat lost ten wickets for just 36 runs, including their last seven wickets for seven runs.

It was a performance that only the Brisbane Heat were capable of doing, and it is a performance the Heat cannot afford to recreate if they are to scrape into the top five on the final day of the regular season.

Prediction
Despite their dominant win over the Melbourne Stars, the Heat have continuously failed to build on strong performances all season long.

With nothing to lose, the bottom-placed Renegades have said they want to spoil the party for the remaining teams still in finals contention and although they missed out with the Sixers on Saturday, the final match of the year provides the perfect opportunity.

Expect the Renegades to record their third win of the season as the players from five other franchises let out a sigh of relief knowing they won’t be dealing with AB de Villiers in the finals.

Join The Roar for all the action from 2:45pm (AEDT).

Game information

First ball: 2:45pm (AEDT)
Venue: Marvel Stadium
TV: Channel Seven, Fox Cricket
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Odds: Melbourne $2.44, Brisbane $1.56
Last meeting: Renegades won by 44 runs
Last five meetings: Renegades 4, Heat 1

Melbourne Renegades 13-man squad
Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Boyce, Dan Christian, Tom Cooper, Zak Evans, Nathan McSweeney, Mohammad Nabi, Samit Patel, Kane Richardson, Brayden Stepien, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster, Jack Wildermuth

Brisbane Heat 13-man squad
Chris Lynn (c), Ben Cutting, Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Ben Laughlin, James Pattinson, James Peirson, Jack Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, AB de Villiers, Mujeeb Ur Rahman