The KFC BBL returns to Coffs Harbour on Wednesday as the Sixers host the Heat in northern NSW
All you need to know: Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat
Match facts
Who: Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat
What: Match 24, BBL|13
Where: C.ex Coffs International Stadium, Coffs Harbour
When: Wednesday, January 3. Bat flip at 5.20pm AEDT, first ball at 6.05pm 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: Simon Lightbody (field), Paul Wilson (field), David Taylor (third), Troy Penman (fourth), David Gilbert (match referee)
Match squads
Sixers: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran (England), Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince (England)
Heat: Colin Munro (New Zealand) (c), Xavier Bartlett, Sam Billings (England), Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Jordan Buckingham, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Paul Walter (England)
Form guide
Sixers: DDLWW (most recent first)
The two sides were forced to share the points on New Year's Day in Brisbane as wet weather resulted in the match being abandoned without a ball bowled – the Sixers second washout in a row after their clash with the Thunder was also called off with one over left to be bowled to constitute a match. After losing to the Stars on Boxing Day, the Sixers will be out to recapture their momentum from the start of the season with a win in Coffs Harbour.
Heat: DWWWD
Like the Sixers, the Heat have also endured two washouts this season – the only matches where they haven't claimed full points. Brisbane are firming as a hot favourite to take out the BBL|13 title and will be out to extend their unbeaten run to five matches when they meet the Sixers.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Players to watch
Jack Edwards – who Aussie legend Brett Lee believes can bowl even faster and push past the 140kph mark – is enjoying a breakout Big Bash season with seven wickets at an excellent economy rate of 7.82, including a career-best 3-24 against the Thunder on Saturday. The 23-year-old allrounder had never bowled a ball in the BBL before this season, let alone taken a wicket, and he now has seven in 102 deliveries. Also made a 23-ball 30 against the Stars in the game before last, and once he gets his T20 batting going, he'll be a force to be reckoned with.
English allrounder Tom Curran returns to the Sixers squad and is available for selection against the Heat after serving his four-match suspension for intimidation of an umpire.
Xavier Bartlett is relishing the responsibility bowling up front in the Powerplay and at the death this season and is the competition's second leading wicket-taker so far with nine at an average of 11.11 – a career low from his four Big Bash campaigns. He's also claiming a wicket once every 9.33 balls bowled so far this season compared to his career strike rate of 16.24, and his economy rate in BBL|13 (7.14) is down more than a run from his career mark of 8.28.
It's been a supremely consistent bowling effort from the Heat this season with Mitch Swepson (7) and Paul Walter (6) also in the top 12 wicket-takers for BBL|13.
Head-to-head
Overall: Sixers (13 wins), Heat (5 wins), no result (2)
At Coffs Harbour: Never played
Most runs: Daniel Hughes (356), Chris Lynn (322), Moises Henriques (271), Jimmy Peirson (260), James Vince (241)
Most wickets: Sean Abbott (27), Ben Dwarshuis (15), Mark Steketee (12), Steve O'Keefe (11), Josh Lalor (10)
The venue
Rapid stats
- Brisbane Heat have won each of their last two BBL matches against the Sydney Sixers, which was the first time the Heat have logged consecutive wins against the Sixers in the history of the competition.
- Sydney Sixers have won five of their last six BBL matches away from the SCG with their only defeat in that span a seven-wicket loss against the Perth Scorchers (January 28, 2023).
- Brisbane Heat have taken exactly four wickets during the death overs (17-20) in three of their last five BBL innings. Prior to that, they had only taken four wickets at the death twice in their past 19 innings in the competition.
- Sean Abbott (148) is two away from becoming the first player to take 150 wickets for the Sydney Sixers in BBL history and the first player to log 150 wickets for a single team in the history of the competition. Abbott's career bowling average against the Brisbane Heat (16.33) is his best against any team in the competition.
- Matt Renshaw (918) is 82 away from becoming the sixth player to score 1000 runs for the Brisbane Heat in BBL history. He was not dismissed in his most recent innings against the Sydney Sixers (36 not out on January 26, 2022).
What's on the line?
A mouth-watering top of the table clash between the Heat (first) and Sixers (second). A Brisbane win would put them four points clear on top, while a Sixers victory would see them draw level with the Heat on 10 points, but they would remain in second due to an inferior net run-rate.