The Heat have now lost their last two and are going nowhere fast.
It’s quickly getting to the stage where the best they can hope for is to finish fifth, sneak into the Playoffs and find some serious form at that stage.
But not only are they far from guaranteed a Playoff place at all but to win four in a row to win the title seems virtually impossible considering you’re going to have to play the best teams in the Playoffs.
Still, they came close to doing that exactly that last year, almost making the final.
In truth, losing the last two games really wasn’t their fault. They came up against teams who were missing far less players through Covid than their opponents.
But they really are drinking in last-chance saloon and losing here would open the door to plenty of other teams in of securing that fifth-placed spot.
Team News
Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Ben Duckett, Liam Guthrie, Matthew Kuhnemann, Chris Lynn, Nathan McSweeney, Mark Steketee and Jack Wildermuth have been cleared to make a return.
That all of those nine players were out for the past two games tells you everything you need to know about how many important players they were missing.
There’s no Fakar Zaman because he’s not allowed to enter Queensland due to Covid restrictions; he’ll be back to play the Stars on Sunday.
Sadly it means the end of the road for grade players brought in to play for the Heat at such short notice who had their moment in the sun.
Then again, all those guys were pretty lucky to have played in the Big Bash at all.
Player to Watch: Ben Duckett
Duckett’s career for England is probably over with concerns about his discipline, attitude and fitness. It’s hard enough to get into England’s white-ball teams as it is, never mind if there are question marks about the three things just mentioned.
So the best he can hope for is to have a decent career as a T20 globetrotter.
And he’s done well at the Heat this season and his 218 runs are less than only Sam Heazlett among the Heat’s players; in the process he’s outscored the great Chris Lynn from the same number of matches.
He’s scored two fifties and his strike rate of 138 is excellent. More runs in his final few games could well see him return next year.
Heats’s Likely XI
Lynn, Bryant, Duckett, Cooper, Heazlett, Peirson, Bailey, Steketee, Kuhnemann, Mujeeb, Guthrie.
Hard to say anything new about this lot. Last time out the Strikers came pretty close to beating the Stars despite posting a very modest total first up.
Had the Stars’ Joe Clarke not been dropped when he was (on 40-odd) and they probably would have won the game.
But then again, posting below par scores and then coming close to defending them is nothing new to this bunch. As ever, their bowling was very competitive but their batting lacks power, imagination and quite frankly, quality.
At this stage not finishing bottom may even be seen as a decent result for the season and there’s plenty of work to do ahead of next year’s campaign.
Team News
Ryan Gibson returns after picking up an injury early on in the season and will slot into the middle order at the expense of Matt Renshaw, who, you guessed it…has got Covid.
Other than that, it should be the same side who lost narrowly to the Stars the other day.
Player to Watch: Jonno Wells
Wells has been their best batsmen this season. Not just because he’s their top run scorer with an excellent 280 runs from 10 games but also because he’s been pretty consistent. Unlike some other players who can sometimes be a case of feast or famine.
They might think of playing him at three instead of four, and play the anchor role.
A bit like Kane Williamson for New Zealand or Virat Kohli for India. If he’s in the best form of anyone on the side, you might as well have him facing as many balls as possible.
But that will only work if other players take risks around him. And right now, no-one seems capable of doing that.
Strikers’s Likely XI
Short, Hunt, Weatherald, Wells, Gibson, Kelly, Nielsen, Khan, Agar, Siddle, Ahme.
Venue & conditions
Brisbane, as we know, can be an excellent wicket. Fast, true, with even bounce and one where you get real value for your shots. Teams normally try to target 175-180 batting first here.
But good quality fast bowling can be rewarded there so the likes of Peter Siddle and Wes Agar (even more reason for him to play) could be dangerous there.
But if it’s a high-scoring contest, it could play into the hands of the Heat who have more batting power so all in all, this could be quite an even contest.
