Two title contenders face of in the first week of BBL09, the Brisbane Heat will be eager to get back on track after a shock loss to the Sydney Thunder on the opening night of BBL09. The Melbourne Stars will be fired up as they begin their redemption campaign after losing the BBL08 final in shocking fashion. The Heat and Stars split their regular season matches last season, with the Stars taking the points at the MCG whilst the Heat demolished the Stars by 10 wickets in the last regular season match.
The Heat will come into the match with an unchanged squad from Tuesday night’s loss to the Thunder. The Stars were forced to bring in unknown Pakistani fast bowler Haris Rauf after Dale Steyn suffered a side strain playing for the Cape Town Blitz in the South African T20 League. Recruits Nathan Coulter-Nile and Hilton Cartwright will likely make their debuts for the Stars after crossing over from the Perth Scorchers.
Brisbane Heat squad (13): Chris Lynn (c), Tom Banton, Max Bryant, Ben Cutting, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Josh Lalor, Ben Laughlin, James Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Zahir Khan
Melbourne Stars squad (13): Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Pete Handscomb, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Haris Rauf, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa
Heat vs Stars Betting Tips
Brisbane Heat
The Heat are coming off a disappointing loss against the Thunder where their entire batting line up struggled, there were flashes of brilliance from Tom Banton and Ben Cutting, but not enough to give the innings any substance. In their last encounter against the Stars, the Heat chased down 158 in ten overs without the loss of any wickets, as Max Bryant smashed 71 not out and Ben Cutting hit 81 not out. The Metricon stadium wicket won’t likely be as good of a batting surface as the Gabba, however the Heat will take confidence in a 7-3 head to head record against the Stars.
Max Bryant dominated against the Stars last year smashing a brutal 71 not out from 30 deliveries. Along with his strong form against the Stars, Bryant has some good form at Metricon Stadium. Bryant scored a brisk 61 off 54 deliveries against Western Australia in the Marsh Cup at Metricon Stadium in October as well as knocks of 30 from 15 balls and 34 off 18 in the Heat’s two games on the Gold Coast last season. If Bryant can gets going early, he could win the Heat the game off his own bat. A generous line of 18.5 runs is simply too good to pass on for a quality talent like Bryant.
Bryant OVER 18.5 Runs
$1.88
Melbourne Stars
The Stars will begin the redemption campaign after last years shock loss in the BBL final and they were quick to fix their weaknesses, signing to Nathan Coulter-Nile and Hilton Cartwright who will both add speed with the ball and power with the bat. The Stars have always been strong performers in the regular season, given the talent they have as well as the motivational factor of redemption for last season’s failure, the Stars are going to be tough to beat no matter where they play.
Marcus Stoinis put together a dominant campaign in BBL08 as the Stars leading run scorer. Stoinis scored 494 runs at an average of 54.89, with a strike rate of 133. Stoinis’ smashed 81 from 51 deliveries against the Heat last season, his BBL career best of 99 came against the Heat in BBL07. Stoinis loves playing against the Heat, and after missing out on international selection for the ODI squad, will be eager to send a statement in his first game of the season.
Stoinis top Stars batsman
$3.00
Prediction
This game features two teams that will feature at the business end of the season. The Heat will be under the pump, and if their star studded batting line up fails again, there will be questions over the Heat’s title favouritism. The Stars will bring a side oozing with depth with bat and ball. Aside from Dale Steyn, this is a full strength Stars side that will be looking to make a statement early in the season. There are still some questions of the Heat’s fast bowling stocks, can Gannon, Steketee and Cutting be economical enough to keep the Heat in the game? With quality and experience in all facets of the game, the Stars will take the victory in their first game for the season.
