All you need to know: Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Stars

Match facts

Who: Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Stars

What: Match 1, BBL|13

Where: The Gabba, Brisbane

When: Thursday, December 7. Bat flip at 5.30pm local (6.30pm AEDT), first ball at 6.15pm local (7.15pm AEDT)

How to watch: Channel Seven, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports

Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here

Live scores: Match Centre

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps

Officials: Paul Wilson (field), Gerard Abood (field), Shawn Craig (third), Steve Dionysius (fourth), Kepler Wessels (match referee)

Match squads

Heat: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Sam Billings (England), Max Bryant, Lachlan Hearne, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Munro (New Zealand), Michael Neser, Mitch Swepson, Paul Walter (England), Jack Wildermuth, Jack Wood

Stars: Glenn Maxwell (c), Joe Burns, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Dawson (England), Sam Harper, Jono Merlo, Usama Mir (Pakistan), Joel Paris, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Marcus Stoinis, Olly Stone (England)

Form guide

Heat: LWWWL (most recent first)

Almost pulled off one of the great Big Bash upsets, going down to the Scorchers in a last over thriller in the BBL|12 final at Optus Stadium. Prior to that, the Heat won four of their last five regular season games to sneak into the finals before knocking out second (Sixers), third (Renegades) and fourth (Thunder) with three straight playoff wins. Have kept a stable list for this season and will no doubt be looking to go one better in BBL|13.

Stars: LLLLW

Had a torrid time of it in BBL|12 where they couldn't get any form going, missing the finals for the third straight season with just three wins. The return of World Cup winners Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis is a huge boost for the Stars this season after Maxwell missed all of BBL|12 with a fractured leg and Stoinis was hampered by a hamstring injury and missed five matches.

Players to watch

Sam Harper just smoked a 104-ball 151 in the last Marsh Sheffield Shield match before the BBL|13 break and will be eager to impress in his first game back with the Stars after being traded from the Renegades during the off-season.

Left-arm quick Spencer Johnson has had a taste of international cricket following a breakout season for the Heat last summer, making his ODI debut in India in September and T20I debut in South Africa in August.

There's also plenty of box office Aussie internationals taking part in the BBL|13 opener with World Cup stars Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis (both Stars) and Marnus Labuschagne joined by Test opener Usman Khawaja (both Heat).

Head-to-head

Overall: Heat 11, Stars 7

At the Gabba: Heat 5, Stars 3

Most runs: Chris Lynn (409), Marcus Stoinis (378), Glenn Maxwell (248), Ben Cutting (212), Hilton Cartwright (206)

Most wickets: Mitchell Swepson (16), Adam Zampa (16), Mark Steketee (13), Josh Lalor (8), Nathan Coulter-Nile (8)

The venue

Rapid stats

• Brisbane Heat have won their last two against the Melbourne Stars, and victory would see them go three straight against the Stars for the first time since a five-match win streak between December 2014 and January 2018.
• The Stars have lost their last four games in a row and haven't lost more in succession since an eight-game stretch across 2017 and 2018.
• The Heat scored 160 runs per innings throughout BBL|12, the most of any team; they scored 11 runs per innings on average more than the Melbourne Stars (149) last season.
• Sydney Sixers (87 per cent) were the only team with a higher catch success rate last BBL season than the Stars (86 per cent) and Heat (85 per cent); though, the Stars' 11 dropped catches were fewer than any other team.
• Josh Brown (Heat) hit 12 sixes during the Powerplay overs in the 2022-23 BBL season, the most by any player ahead of teammate Colin Munro (10) in second; Brown hit 60 per cent of all his 20 total sixes during the tournament within the Powerplay.

What's on the line?

With a reduced 10-game season, a fast start is crucial if you want to be competing at the business end of the season. The Heat will be keen to continue on from their late season run in BBL|12 that saw them narrowly miss taking out the title, while the Stars will be hoping to get their confidence up early after a season they'd rather forget last summer.

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