With just a handful of a games left for each side in BBL09 schedule, Sunday night’s clash between the Brisbane Heat and the Melbourne Renegades at the Gabba is an important one for the home side. After a terribly disappointing loss to the Strikers on Thursday where they were bowled out for just 100, the Heat will need to rebound here against the hapless Renegades if they want to stay in contention with the competition leaders.
Meanwhile the Renegades are finally on the winner’s list after losing their first nine matches of BBL09. They have struggled throughout the season with injuries, poor form and national representation hurting them at various stages. There’s nothing left to play for this season, other than some pride, in what has been a woeful BBL title defence for last year’s champions.
It’s a tough ask to head to the Gabba and dismantle the batting firepower of the Heat, but the Renegades have named an unchanged squad to take on the challenge. The Heat have recalled Sam Heazlett to the squad after finally losing patience with a horribly out-of-form Max Bryant.
Brisbane Heat Squad (13): Chris Lynn (C), Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Sam Heazlett, Josh Lalor, Ben Laughlin, James Pattinson, James Peirson, Jack Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AB de Villiers
Melbourne Renegades Squad (13): Dan Christian (C), Cameron Boyce, Tom Cooper, Andrew Fekete, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Mohammad Nabi, Samit Patel, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster, Jack Wildermuth
Heat vs Renegades Betting Tips
Brisbane Heat
The inclusion of superstar international AB De Villiers was supposed to be the cure for the Heat’s batting woes, but an insipid performance in Adelaide would’ve left the Heat hierarchy extremely disappointed. Matt Renshaw’s contribution in the middle order has been useful, and his consistency has been important all season, but the rest of their batting left a lot to be desired last match.
Max Bryant has copped the axe at the selection table and that’s fair enough. He just seemed lost this season trying to match the firepower of Tom Beaton at the other end. But don’t worry, he’s a player of the future and will be back soon enough. Sam Heazlett comes in and he may slot straight into the top of the order, or alternatively, Matt Renshaw may move up the order to the opening spot that he fills in four-day cricket. A lot falls on the shoulders of Chris Lynn and AB De Villiers, with the middle order of Joe Burns and Jimmy Pierson looking fragile.
With the ball James Pattinson may return after missing their last match with a virus, while spin sensation Mujeeb Ur Rahman kicked off his BBL beautifully to give their attack a real X-factor.
Renshaw most runs Heat
$6.00
Melbourne Renegades
The Renegades snapped their nine-game losing streak with a rain-interrupted win against the Sydney Thunder earlier in the week. The Renegades have at times, batted quite well this season, with Shaun Marsh and Beau Webster both in the top five run scorers in the BBL09 competition, which might be quite surprising for a team with just one win under their belt. Yet somehow, the Renegades have let winning positions slip through their fingers. They’ve rotated more players than any team in the competition and, on paper, they look weak without national representatives Aaron Finch and Kane Richardson.
The one highlight for the Gades has been the efforts of Beau Webster in the middle order. He’s arguably the most improved player in the entire BBL with 318 runs at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 142.60, and he offers us some value in the betting markets.
Webster most runs Renegades
$5.50
Prediction
This should be a high-scoring contest with both teams favouring their batting lineups. The Renegades will need Shaun Marsh to anchor and the likes of Webster, Harper and Christian to tee off at the other end to post a big score. However you feel that if the Heat are chasing, they’ll be confident of chasing down any target. The Renegades have nothing to play for while this match is a crucial one for the Heat in the hunt for the finals. Look for them to bounce back with a big win.
Brisbane Heat to win
$1.60
