The undefeated Heat host the Hurricanes on a two-game winning streak in a crucial KFC BBL|13 clash for both sides
All you need to know: Brisbane Heat v Hobart Hurricanes
Match facts
Who: Brisbane Heat v Hobart Hurricanes
What: Match 29, BBL|13
Where: The Gabba, Brisbane
When: Sunday, January 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: Sam Nogajski (field), Shawn Craig (field) Gerard Abood (third), Joshua Adie (fourth), Kepler Wessels (match referee)
Match squads
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)
Hurricanes: Nathan Ellis (c), Corey Anderson (USA), Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Sam Hain (England), Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan (England), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Mac Wright
Form guide
Heat: WDWWW (most recent first)
The only undefeated team left in BBL|13 following the Perth Scorchers' loss to Adelaide Strikers on Friday night. Last season's runners-up are a game clear at the top of the standings and have continually delivered in the pressure moments this summer, including English import 'Tall Paul' Walter with two clutch boundaries in what turned out to be the final over of their last match against the Sixers in Coffs Harbour to edge them ahead of the DLS par score before the rain hit. Fortunately, with a top of 29C forecast and 40 per cent chance of less than 1mm of rain, it doesn't look like the wet weather will follow them back to Brisbane for Sunday's clash with the Hurricanes after two washouts already this season.
Hurricanes: WWLWL
Two wins on the trot has the Hurricanes knocking on the door of the top four and a third in a row would see them draw level with the fourth-placed Stars. It's been on the back of disciplined bowling, restricting the Renegades to 4-147 and Thunder to 8-150 from their 20 overs respectively. With Sam Hain, Ben McDermott and Mac Wright each hitting half-centuries across their past three games, the batting unit is starting to fire too, and if they continue to put complete performances together, they'll be a tough opponent come the business end of the season.
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
'Tall Paul' Walter has done it all so far in BBL|13 – runs, wickets and catches. He's only hit 60 runs but has been not out twice in winning run chases (23no against the Sixers and 30no against the Renegades) and his strike rate of 176.47 ranks second in the competition this season of batters to have faced more than 10 balls (Laurie Evans 215.62). He's also contributed eight wickets in his 15 overs, striking at the seventh best rate (11.25) of all bowlers in BBL|13.
The Hurricanes star quicks in skipper Nathan Ellis and Riley Meredith have been outstanding with the new ball and at the death so far this season and are first and second leading wicket-takers for the club in BBL|13 with six and five respectively. They both played their part in restricting the opposition across back-to-back wins against the Thunder and Renegades, with Ellis conceding 8.5 runs per over and Meredith 8.13 in their past two games. Matthew Wade remains in the Hurricanes' 14-player squad for the trip to Brisbane after missing the win over the Renegades with back soreness and remains a day-by-day proposition as to whether he takes his place in the XI for each game.
Head-to-head
Overall: Heat (9 wins), Hurricanes (13 wins)
At the Gabba: Heat (6 wins), Hurricanes (6 wins)
Most runs: Chris Lynn (455), D'Arcy Short (440), Daniel Christian (303), Tim Paine (285), Jimmy Peirson (284)
Most wickets: Mark Steketee (16), Cameron Boyce (14), Riley Meredith (13), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (11), Ben Cutting (11)
The venue
Rapid stats
- Hobart Hurricanes will be aiming for back-to-back wins against the Brisbane Heat in the BBL for the first time since January 2019, following their two-run victory in their most recent meeting in the final game of last season (January 25, 2023).
- Brisbane Heat have won their last five completed BBL matches – a sixth consecutive win in this game would be their outright longest winning run in the history of the competition (also won five matches from January to December in 2016).
- Hobart Hurricanes have scored 61 per cent of their 948 runs from boundaries in BBL|13 – their best rate in a single season in the history of the competition and seven percentage points more than their next best (54 per cent of 2146 runs in BBL|12). They've also hit a boundary once every 6.1 balls faced against the Brisbane Heat in the history of the Big Bash, their best rate against any opposition.
- Caleb Jewell (952) is 48 away from becoming the sixth player to score 1000 runs for the Hurricanes in BBL history. He scored an unbeaten half-century in his first innings in the competition against the Heat (61 not out on January 29, 2019) – although, he has not scored more than 27 runs against Brisbane in his five innings since.
- Xavier Bartlett (Brisbane Heat) has taken 10 wickets in BBL|13 – it's the third time he's recorded a double-digit wickets tally in a BBL season (12 in BBL|10 and 11 in BBL|11). Only Mark Steketee (five) has taken 10-plus wickets in more campaigns for the Heat in BBL history.
What's on the line?
For the Heat they can lock away their spot in the BBL|13 finals with a sixth straight win of the season and maintain their position a game clear at the top of the table. Only the Hurricanes – who are fifth on six points with four games remaining – can catch the Heat from outside the top four, so if Brisbane win, they'll be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.
The match is just a crucial for the Hurricanes – win, and depending on how big the margin is, they could find themselves inside the top four at the end of the night. Lose and they could find themselves needing to win each of their final three games of the regular season, including their last one against the Stars on January 15 which could end up being a do-or-die clash for both sides.
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