Big Bash League 2020-21 (BBL 10), Challenger: Perth Scorchers vs Brisbane Heat – Match Preview And Prediction
Published - 04 Feb 2021, 03:46 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:40 AM
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Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat will take on each other at Manuka Oval (Canberra) on Thursday (4th February) night during the Challenger of the Big Bash League 2020/21 (BBL 10). The winner of this match will qualify for the final, where they will fight against the defending champions Sydney Sixers to win this BBL 10 crown.
In the meantime, it will be the third meeting between Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat in this BBL season. In their first two meetings in this season, while Perth Scorchers won by 59 runs in the first game, Brisbane Heat won by 6 runs in the second game.
Big Bash League 2020-21 (BBL 10), Challenger: Perth Scorchers vs Brisbane Heat – Match Preview
Perth Scorchers
After finishing in the second position in the BBL 10 points table, Perth Scorchers suffered the 9-wicket defeat against the defending champions Sydney Sixers in the Qualifier, which forced them to appear in the Challenger of this tournament.
Colin Munro is their leading run-scorer in this BBL season as he has scored 441 runs in 14 matches (average 33.92; strike-rate 128.94), including four half-centuries. Their other in-form batsmen are Josh Inglis (391 runs in 15 innings; 3 half-centuries), Jason Roy (355 runs in 12 innings; 2 half-centuries), Liam Livingstone (304 runs in 12 innings; 2 half-centuries) and Mitchell Marsh (255 runs in 12 innings; 3 half-centuries).
On the other hand, pacer Jhye Richardson is the leading wicket-taker in this season with 27 wickets in 15 matches. Also, Andrew Tye has got 17 wickets in 15 matches while Jason Behrendorff has bagged 14 wickets in 14 matches and Fawad Ahmed has scalped 12 wickets in 14 innings. Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone has got 5 wickets in 5 innings while Aaron Hardie has recorded 7 wickets in 14 innings in this season.
Latest full available squad
Ashton Turner (C), Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancrof, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Mitchell Marsh, Colin Munro, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jason Roy, Andrew Tye
Forms in the last 5 matches (Oldest to latest): Won, Won, Won, Lost and Lost
Brisbane Heat
Brisbane Heat are the in-form side at present. After finishing in the fourth position in the BBL 10 points table, they won Eliminator and Knockout stages to reach this Challenger stage.
Captain Chris Lynn has scored 436 runs in 12 innings (average 36.33; strike-rate 156.27), including five half-centuries. Also, Jimmy Peirson has scored 309 runs in 15 innings while Max Bryant, who was not in the playing XIs in the last two matches, has scored 302 runs in 14 innings. Sam Heazlett, who was their hero in their last game in the Knockout stage (74*), has also scored 177 runs in 8 matches.
While they have some other batsmen who performed inconsistently in this tournament, Marnus Labuschagne has highly impressed with his all-round performances after joining the squad lately due to international commitment. Apart from scoring 161 runs in 5 matches, he has also picked up 10 wickets in this tournament.
Mark Steketee has got 24 wickets in 15 matches, but they are missing the service of Afghanistan off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who managed to take 14 wickets in 8 matches. Also, Jack Wildermuth has bagged 13 wickets in 12 matches while Xavier Bartlett has taken 12 wickets in 15 matches.
Latest full available squad
Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Joe Burns, Max Bryant, Tom Cooper, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Sam Heazlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben Laughlin, Chris Lynn (C), Morne Morkel, Lachy Pfeffer, Jimmy Peirson, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Jack Wildermuth
Forms in the last 5 matches (Oldest to latest): Lost, Won, Won, Won and Won
Big Bash League 2020-21 (BBL 10), Challenger: Perth Scorchers vs Brisbane Heat – Match Prediction
Brisbane Heat are currently in the best form as they are running with the four-match winning streak. They also won the last meeting, although it was a close game. However, Perth Scorchers also know very well how to make a comeback in the crucial time as they have already proved it in this season.
While the Challenger is another do or die match, there is no favourite at present.
