Deadline: December 20, 2019 at 1:40 IST
Venue: Carrara Oval, Queensland
Pitch report
The pitch is expected to be on the slower side, but hitting the ball through the line wouldn’t be an uphill task. Expect an even contest between bat and ball. Take as many all-rounders in your fantasy team as you can.
Probable XIs
Heat: Tom Banton (wk), Max Bryant, Chris Lynn (c), Matt Renshaw, Sam Heazlett, Ben Cutting, Mark Steketee, Josh Lalor, Mitchell Swepson, Ben Laughlin, Zahir Khan
Stars: Ben Dunk, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb (wk), Glenn Maxwell (c), Nic Maddinson, Seb Gotch, Hilton Cartwright, Adam Zampa, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Daniel Worrall, Sandeep Lamichhane
Match prediction and preview
The Stars are one of the only two teams to have never won the BBL. They have been in two finals but failed to hold their nerves on both occasions. That being said, they have always had quality players in their team and their line-up this year is no less. More importantly, their captain Glenn Maxwell is back after his short break from cricket.
On the other hand, the Heat had a disappointing start to this year’s campaign, losing the tournament opener to the Thunder. They started off well by taking wickets at regular intervals but lost the plot in the death overs. With the bat, they could never gain momentum and lost all 10 wickets.
In the previous season, the scoreline read 1-1 between these teams.
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely.
Players to watch out for
Marcus Stoinis opened the innings last year – something we had rarely seen him do. He usually bats in the middle order and launches an onslaught in the end, but we saw a new side of him. He scored as many as 533 runs including 4 half-centuries at the top. To make matters more interesting, his 14 wickets were the second-most from his team.
In the middle-order, the Stars have one of the most explosive T20 batsman – Glenn Maxwell. He can play every shot in the book and, and more importantly, with power. He captained the side remarkably well in the previous season, and it won’t come as a surprise if he takes the Stars to their maiden title.
The Stars’ strength is their bowling. They have speedsters Nathan Coulter-Nile and Dale Steyn. Both are threatening at any point of the game, be it in the powerplay or at death. However, Steyn won’t be available for the first match due to injury.
The Stars have powered up their spin attack with leg-spinners Sandip Lamichhane and Adam Zampa. While Lamichhane is zippy and has variations, Zampa likes to deceive the batsmen in flight and turn.
Chris Lynn not only is the highest run-scorer but also has smashed most sixes in the Australian T20 League. He did not have the best of starts to the season, but his recent form suggests that a big score is due.
It was surprising to see Mitchell Swepson bowl only 2 overs. He dismissed Alex Ross and the dangerous Daniel Sams off consecutive deliveries. We will see more of his leg-spinners throughout the season.
Ben Cutting was the star player for the Heat. He dismissed Chris Green at a crucial juncture and then scored 28 off a mere 18 balls.
Also, get to know the tips & tricks on how to play fantasy cricket.