BBL 7, Match 8, Preview: Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder lock horns at the Gabba

Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder both have had a mixed bag in the BBL 7 so far. While they started with a win in their opening games, lost the next one and now find themselves in the middle of the table with Heat at no. 4, while Thunder are at 5.

On paper, these two teams look balanced and seem to have covered all their bases, but the availability of the players has been a concern for Heat. While Chris Lynn has not been able to feature in any of the two games that they have played so far, Joe Burns also saw the last game from the sidelines because of the hamstring injury he sustained playing in the first game against Stars.

Thunder have had their full-strength squad available for both their games and the biggest positive for them has been the form of the skipper Shane Watson. Watson has appeared to be in terrific form with the bat and Thunder’s winning start could actually be attributed to the thrilling knock that he played against the Sixers batting at no. 3.

Apart from the experienced blokes, the youngsters from both the teams have made an impact too. While Arjun Nair has caught everyone’s eyes with his all-round skills and his temperament, Shadab Khan has only enhanced his reputation by bamboozling some good players in the tournament.

Focus will be on:

Chris Lynn (Brisbane Heat)

Lynn is expected to play tomorrow and he will probably bat first down. He has easily been the most ferocious hitter of the cricket ball in T20 cricket in the last one year or so as he has dismantled bowling attacks not only in the BBL but in IPL as well. While power is one of the key attributes of Lynn’s batting, the fact that he also keeps his head still while making contact with the ball also goes a long way in making sure he hits it long and clean. Needless to say if he bats for 12 to 15 overs, he will take the game far, far away from the reach of the opposition, so the Thunder will have to dismiss him as quickly as they can if they don’t want the carnage.

Shane Watson (Sydney Thunder)

While Watson doesn’t quite possess the muscular power that Lynn has, he can still play with a similar strike rate as his range of shots is much wider. While he is very good hitting the ball straight down the ground on the front foot, the moment the bowler drags his length any bit, he can go square of the wicket on both sides too. He is a brilliant cutter and puller of the cricket ball.

The 36-year-old hasn’t bowled much in the tournament so far, but he can be quite handy with the ball as well especially in the middle overs. While he is not the quickest bowler in the world and generally remains around 130 kph in terms of his speed, he has got quite a deceptive bouncer which he bowls with an extra yard of pace and manages to surprise the batsman more often than not. He will probably like to bowl a few overs tomorrow.

Playing combination

Brisbane Heat

With Lynn returning, Sam Heazlett may have to make way for him. Heazlett who has batted 3 in Lynn’s absence has failed in both the games so far as he has scores of 14 and 11 to his name respectively. That’s probably the only change Heat will be making in their XI.

Heat’s bowling has been a little too dependent on Shadab as the others have failed to step up to the plate. The skipper Brendon McCullum will want a collective effort from their bowlers at Gabba, while he will expect Shadab to continue his good work and chip away with crucial wickets.

Predicted XI: Jimmy Peirson (wk), Brendon McCullum (C), Chris Lynn, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Shadab Khan, Josh Lalor, Mark Steketee, Brendan Doggett, Mitchell Swepson

Sydney Thunder

As far as the Thunder are concerned, they will be going with the same XI that they fielded in the last game against the Strikers. Although they lost that game badly, they will probably stick to the same set of guys as they had performed fantastically well against the local rivals Sixers in the tournament opener.

The Thunder may shuffle the batting order a little bit and get someone like Aiden Blizzard batting slightly up as he is an impact player and the more no. of deliveries he plays, the better. Also, they will like a big inning from their overseas signing Jos Buttler whom they have been using at the top of the order this season. Buttler, who is generally, a middle-order batsman has opened for the Thunder in the two games so far and has got out cheaply on both the occasions.

Predicted XI: Jos Buttler (WK), Kurtis Patterson, Shane Watson (C), Ryan Gibson, Ben Rohrer, Arjun Nair, Aiden Blizzard, Chris Green, Mitchell McClenaghan, Fawad Ahmed, Andrew Fekete