BBL12 hits Cairns on Thursday night with the Brisbane Heat taking on the Melbourne Renegades at Cazalys Stadium (7:15pm AEDT).
Brendan Bunworth brings you his best bets for the Heat vs Renegades clash, and be sure to check out our BBL Betting Tips for coverage of every game this season, as well as our BBL Data Tools to help form your own analysis!
BBL12 Heat vs Renegades Preview & Betting Tips
Cazalys Stadium, Thursday 15th December, 7:15pm (AEDT)
Brisbane Heat
Predicted XI from: Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Sam Billings, Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Colin Munro, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ross Whiteley, Jack Wildermuth, Spencer Johnson, Will Prestwidge, Sam Hain.
Current markets have the Heat slight underdogs in this one and as is the case in all BBL round one matches, it's going to be hard to predict early on.
Matt Renshaw will bat at the top of the order, and he is in good form and is experienced in this format now. A solid innings from him will go a long way in seeing the Heat strive for victory in this one.
Sam Billings and Colin Munro are two more experienced batsmen who will need to put in a good match and series for the Heat to feature. Those two players are even more important now given the departure of former Heat captain Chris Lynn.
Munro has a good strike rate, and he might be one to get the run rate flowing.
In the bowling stocks, a lot of pressure is going to be on spinner Mitch Swepson in this match and the whole campaign in general. If he can take wickets in the middle overs and slow the run rate, it will put pressure on lower order batsmen to unleash at the end.
Xavier Bartlett is expected to be amongst the tournament's highest wicket takers, and I will be keen to watch how he goes about it in this match.
Melbourne Renegades
Predicted XI from: Aaron Finch, Akeal Hosein, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Mackenzie Harvey, Nic Maddinson (c), Shaun Marsh, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Will Sutherland, Jon Wells, Jack Prestwidge, Zak Evans, Andre Russell.
The Renegades bowling looks pretty solid this match but as always, their batting seems to rely heavily on former captain Aaron Finch’s, and Shaun Marsh’s shoulders.
Marsh is 39 now though and the Renegades’ younger brigade are the ones who need to improve this season.
Finch has been out of form but i won't be surprised if he has one of his best BBL seasons.
Tom Rogers (ex-Tasmania) has been recruited for quick bowling and will be used early on in most innings’, while Andre Russell (medium-fast) will be used a lot in the mid to latter overs.
Someone in the batting order is going to have to stand up before Martin Guptill arrives in a few weeks’ time and the ‘Gades will be looking for players of the likes of Jon Wells, Nic Maddinson and Peter Handscomb to become an integral part of this season's gameplan.
Left hander, Maddinson has signed for the next three seasons for the Renegades after trading from rivals, Melbourne Stars.
Match Prediction
I'm not going to lie, this is a hard one to predict early on in the season, but I am going with the Renegades here. They have been very poor the last two seasons, they simply can't afford a bad showing early on in this tournament.
Renegades to win
$1.80 (1 Unit)
BBL12 Same Game Multi
I'm backing Renshaw to start the innings solidly and I think $1.65 for a couple of early boundaries might be overs. Rogers wil be keen to impress in his four overs and i think he will snare a wicket, while i'm backing Melbourne Renegades to win, simply because i think an early season win is worth more to them.
Matt Renshaw (Heat) 2+ Fours ($1.65)
Tom Rogers (Renegades) 1+ Wicket ($1.28)
Renegades to Win ($1.80)
