The BBL14 season continues on Monday night as the Heat host the Thunder at the Gabba from 7.15pm. As always, we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
BBL14 Heat vs Thunder
Gabba, Monday 6th January, 7.15pm (AEDT)
Heat
After winning their first two games of the season, the Brisbane Heat have come off the boil slightly to lose their last three games. They were probably spared another loss to a red hot Sixers side when their Friday night match was abandoned without a ball being balled due to inclement weather in Coffs Harbour.
Batting has been a massive issue in their three losses, putting up scores of just 132, 138 and 149 in their last three games, as top order imports in Tom Banton and Colin Munro struggling to find any form. Sitting in fifth place with just four games to go, the Heat will likely need to win two at the bare minimum and likely three to secure a place in the finals.
Predicted XI: Tom Banton, Colin Munro, Nathan McSweeney, Matt Renshaw, Max Bryant, Paul Walter, Will Prestwidge, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann
Thunder
The Thunder are one of the hotter teams in the league throughout the first half of the season, going 4-1 and sitting in 2nd place on the table. Despite a brutal head clash in the field to Daniel Sams and Cameron Bancroft that could see them both miss the rest of the season, the Thunder were too good for the Perth Scorchers on Friday night chasing down 177 on the last ball of the game.
Cameron Bancroft will miss the rest of the season with a broken shoulder and nose while Daniel Sams will miss at least the next 12 games after being placed in the concussion protocol after Friday night’s collision. With those two key players out, it will be interesting to see which direction the Thunder go with selection. Sam Konstas will return for the Thunder at some stage, but it’s unlikely we see him as soon as tomorrow night, and veteran Dan Christian has been brought into the squad as an injury replacement.
Predicted XI: David Warner, Blake Nikitaras, Matthew Gilkes, Ollie Davies, Sam Billings, Sherfane Rutherford, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Tom Andrews, Lockie Ferguson, Wes Agar
Prediction
The Thunder will no doubt be rattled by the loss of Sams and Bancroft but I think they are playing too well at the moment to let that derail their season. Chris Green might be one of the best T20 bowlers in the world at the moment, and he is backed up by a host of specialist T20 bowlers in this outfit. The batting is on the greener side but there are certainly enough match winners there to suggest they can go all the way this season.
The Thunder are just 2-5 in games at the Gabba but I fully expect them to improve on that record this Monday night.
Player Prop
Like David Warner at the Gabba on Monday night. In seven career T20’s in Brisbane, the star veteran has scored 200 runs at a healthy average of 33.3. Started the season in slower form but has really come to the party in his last two games, scoring 86* off 57 against the Renegades followed by 49 off 33 against the Scorchers.
Warner Top THU Runscorer
$2.85
