BBL 2018-19, Match 26, Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades, Match Prediction: Who will win the Match?

As they have a good NRR, a win here could place Brisbane Heat in the top half of the points table.

Published - 09 Jan 2019, 14:37 IST | Updated - 09 Jan 2019, 14:37 IST

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The Brisbane Heat, who registered only their second win of the tournament against Sydney Thunder on Tuesday in a rain-marred encounter, will be back in action again on Thursday. They will play hosts to the Melbourne Renegades in the upcoming encounter. The Renegades are also coming into this game on the back of a good win against Hobart Hurricanes and hence will be a confident unit.

The Heat were powered by brilliant innings from Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum. However, they witnessed one of the worst of collapses when they lost five wickets for two runs. They were somewhat fortunate with the result going their way and wouldn’t want to repeat the same mistakes. It is important for the middle-order batsmen to rethink about their shot selection and execute plans better.

For the Melbourne Renegades, their bowlers were terrific picking up three of the most important batsmen early in the innings. However, they let their foot off the pedal slightly and allowed the Hurricanes to recover. The chase went into the last over when they won the match by 6 wickets with four balls to spare.

Pitch and Conditions

This is only the second game of the tournament that is being played at The Gabba in Brisbane. The tournament opener was played at the same venue which witnessed a mediocre score. Gabba is a delightful place for a bowler as the ball races off the pitch and there is also some steep bounce at times.

The hook and the cut are the shots on which the batsmen will have to work upon. With some rain on Wednesday, the humidity is expected to be on the higher side on the game day. Therefore, the bowlers could extract some added miles off the track as the moisture in the air could possibly speed up the pitch. There could be dew for a majority of the time in the match.

Team Combinations

Brisbane Heat

Playing for the first time at the Gabba in 2019, the Brisbane Heat will be looking forward to making it three in a row. Brendon McCullum and Chris Lynn will be hoping to continue with the same kind of form in the upcoming match. The focus will also be on Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns who were called up into the Test side to face Sri Lanka. The bowling was great in both the last two games.

Predicted XI: Max Bryant, Brendon McCullum, Chris Lynn, Matt Renshaw, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Jimmy Peirson (wk), James Pattinson, Brendan Doggett, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Josh Lalor.

Melbourne Renegades

The Melbourne Renegades have one change to make to the upcoming game. Aaron Finch has gone back to fulfill the national duties. He will be leading Australia in the ODIs that start from January 12. Hence, the new-comer in the Test arena, Marcus Harris will take his spot. It will be Tom Cooper who will be back at the helm. The bowling unit will consist of Jack Wildermuth, Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson and Usman Khan Shinwari.

Predicted XI: Marcus Harris, Sam Harper (wk), Cameron White, Tom Cooper (c), Mohammad Nabi, Daniel Christian, Beau Webster, Jack Wildermuth, Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson, Usman Khan Shinwari.