Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers
Wednesday, 02:05 GMT
Live on Sky Sports Cricket
Sixers rally after mini slump
This game was originally scheduled to take place on January 4 at which point I’d tipped James Vince as the man to make the difference for the Sixers. Vince has subsequently left for England international duty and his place has been taken by the inexperienced Jack Edwards.
The men in magenta will be reinforced by the return of Nathan Lyon and, despite some issues in that top order, they remain strong. I keep referring to their strength in depth and that was underlined in their crucial win over Sydney Thunder when Daniel Hughes made 66.
Brisbane bow out
Brisbane Heat have no chance of making the top five and go into this game with little to play for. Having briefly lost Chris Lynn and Ben Duckett at a crucial point in the competition, the team never recovered.
Duckett remains a big threat and should really be on England’s limited overs tour to the West Indies. He’s been one of the most consistent batsmen in the shortest format and, along with Lynn and, potentially, Marnus Labuschagne, he will be a key wicket for Sydney on Wednesday.
All switch to the Gabba
Having previously been scheduled to be played at the Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, this game will now be hosted by the Gabba. This is just the fifth BBL game to be played here this season and the Heat have lost each of the previous four.
The average first innings score across those four games is 177 and three of the matches have gone to the side batting first. It should, therefore, be a day to win the bat flip, take first knock and target that 177 as a minimum.
There are no surprises in the match result betting with Sydney Sixers way out in front. Moises Henriques’ men are currently on offer at 1.584/7 with Brisbane Heat in the distance at 2.6813/8.
There’s always the theory that a side with nothing to play for can be dangerous but I’m not convinced that it’s a strong one in this case. Brisbane have been poor all the way through BBL 11 with an over-reliance on two batters for their runs.
The potential inclusion of Labuschagne is a concern but, with Sydney needing a bonus point win and hoping that their cross city rivals the Thunder can’t overtake their net run rate, I’ll take two points on the favourites to ease past a weak Brisbane unit.
There’s no reason for Moises to lead his team out of the wilderness but Sydney will need the skipper’s runs in this crucial contest. Captain Henriques has been in good touch with the bat and he contributed a stunning 47 from just 27 balls in that win over Sydney Thunder.
James Vince was my top batsman pick in the original game but clearly I need to look elsewhere. Moises Henriques is showing good consistency and is, therefore, the recommended bet at 10/3.