For the second time in just five days the Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers face off, with the return leg taking place at the Gabba on Wednesday night. The Scorchers will looking regain top spot on the BBL12 ladder, while the Heat must win to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Jack Tobin is here with his best bets for a huge clash between the Heat and Scorchers, and for previews on every game of BBL12, check out BeforeYouBet's BBL Tips! Also, if you're having a dabble, why not bet with Dabble?
BBL12 Heat vs Scorchers Preview & Betting Tips
Gabba, Wednesday 11th January, 7:40pm (AEDT)
Brisbane Heat
Predicted XI: Josh Brown, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Ross Whiteley, Michael Neser, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Matt Kuhnemann
The Heat will lose Colin Munro and Sam Billing who are off to the UAE, but will gain some very handy replacements in Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Renshaw. Khawaja, Labuschagne and Renshaw will bring some desperately needed balance to the Heat batting unit, who will need to be near perfect in the final six games of the season if they are to play finals.
After two impressive performances against the Sydney Sixers that resulted in a win and a washout, the Heat came crashing back to earth in a seven wicket defeat to the Scorchers on Saturday night. The Heat’s bowling attack was smashed to all parts of Optus Stadium, with Michael Nesser being the only Heat bowler that conceded under nine runs an over.
The bowling performance followed a dreadful second half of their batting innings, with a collapse of 9/90 undoing the excellent platform laid by Colin Munro (45 off 26), Josh Brown (34 off 21) and Sam Billings (27 off 23). The Heat’s last four overs yielded just 25 runs, which cost the Heat dearly as the Scorchers romped home to victory. Had the Heat captialised on their excellent start, they could have pulled off the remarkable double of beating the Scorchers and Sixers.
Perth Scorchers
Predicted XI: Cameron Bancroft, Stephen Eskinazi, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Ashton Turner, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Matthew Kelly, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Lance Morris
Openers Faf du Plessis and Adam Lyth are out of the Scorchers side, with the duo heading to the South African and UAE T20 leagues respectively. The Scorchers got Lance Morris back for their last game and should welcome Ashton Agar back into the side for this fixture after returning from the Test squad. Englishman Stephen Eskinazi has come into the side at the top of the order after an excellent Vitality Blast season in 2022. Eskinazi scored 431 runs at an average of 33 with a strike rate of 151.76, ranking fifteenth in the tournament for runs.
The scorchers bounced back on Saturday night with a comprehensive victory over the Brisbane Heat at Optus Stadium. The scorchers mowed down an impressive tally of 171 from the Heat with ease, passing the target three down with 21 balls to spare. Cameron Bancroft (76 off 48) and Aaron Hardie (57 off 33) made light work of the chase, with the victory made even more impressive by the fact the Scorchers were without Jhye Richardson, Faf du Plessis and Adam Lyth.
The defending champions are in an excellent position, sitting one point behind the league leading Sydney Sixers, with two games in hand. The quality start to the season gives the Scorchers some margin for error with Jhye Richardson expected to be out until the finals. Cameron Bancroft looks set to fill in the opening position after a red hot start to his campaign, with English seamer David Payne and Matthew Kelly likely fighting out for the last remaining spot in the side.
Match Prediction
The Scorchers have been outstanding this season, with their ability to win games in a variety of ways, with a variety of different players proving their quality. It doesn’t matter which eleven they roll out or what conditions they face, the Scorchers find a way to get the job done.
The Scorchers have won four in a row against the Heat, as well as seven of the last eight meetings between the two sides. The Gabba surface is a batting paradise in T20 cricket, and with the talent on display in both sides, there should be plenty of runs in store in this clash. As was seen on Saturday, the difference between these two sides is the quality of the Scorchers bowling attack. Their ability to reign the Heat back in after they got off to a hot start was the deciding factor, and their bowling attack will once again get the job done, as they have all season long.
Perth Scorchers
$1.68 (2 Units)
Same Game Multi
It’s going to be a run fest at the Gabba, so we’ll be looking at some in form batsmen to kick off the multi. Starting with Usman Khawaja, who is making his debut for the Brisbane Heat. Although he hasn’t played as many Big Bash games in recent years due to his resurgence back into the Test team, Khawaja is one of the best players in the history of the competition. Khawaja has scored 1818 runs at an average of 34, with a strike rate of 129 and his last two BBL innings saw returns of 29 and 77 runs.
For the second leg, we’re riding with the hot hand on Cameron Bancroft, who has been a revelation since coming into the Scorchers side on New Year’s Day. In his three games this season, Bancroft has scored 124 runs at an average of 62, including a match winning 72 not out against the Heat on Saturday night.
To finish off the multi, once again we’ll be taking the first wicket of the first innings to be caught. This consistently produces results, at the time of writing, the first method of dismissal in sixteen of the last eighteen BBL12 games has been caught.
Usman Khawaja 20+ Runs
Cameron Bancroft 15+ Runs
First Wicket Caught 1st Innings - Yes
