Mitch Swepson returns to the Gabba for his first match against his old club as the Heat host the Stars
Match facts
Who: Brisbane Heat v Melbourne Stars
What: Match 20, KFC BBL|15
Where: The Gabba, Brisbane
When: Friday, January 2. Bat flip at 5.30pm local (6.30pm AEDT), first ball at 6.15pm local (7.15pm AEDT)
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Listen: ABC, SEN Radio. Listen in standard and real-time with no delay to live play via Cricket Radio on the CA Live app. Find out more here
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: Roberto Howard and Troy Penman (field), Gerard Abood (third), Riki Wessels (fourth), Joanne Broadbent (match referee)
Match squads
Brisbane Heat: Nathan McSweeney (c), Tom Balkin, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Liam Haskett, Lachlan Hearne, Matt Kuhnemann, Colin Munro, Oli Patterson, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth, Jack Wood
In: Nathan McSweeney. Outs: –
Captain Nathan McSweeney returns to the Brisbane line-up after recovering from an ankle injury suffered in their second game of the season. He is the only addition to the Heat’s 14-player squad to face the Stars, while spinner Matt Kuhnemann and fast bowler Xavier Bartlett will be out to celebrate their selection in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad with strong performances in front of their home fans.
Melbourne Stars: Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran, Sam Hain, Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Blake Macdonald, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Tom Rogers, Haris Rauf, Peter Siddle, Mitch Swepson
Ins: Sam Hain, Blake Macdonald. Outs: Joe Clarke (hip), Jon Merlo (omitted)
The Stars have suffered an injury blow with English opener Joe Clarke to miss as many as four matches with a hip injury. Clarke top scored for his team in the previous match with 60 from 37 balls in their win over the Thunder. Fellow Englishman Sam Hain, who was already in Queensland for the summer, has joined the Stars as an international replacement player. Hain previously played 16 BBL games for the Heat and Hobart Hurricanes and has also represented England in two ODIs.
The club has also added Victorian batter Blake Macdonald as a local replacement for injured fast bowler Mark Steketee, who was ruled out prior to the tournament due to a hamstring injury. Clarke will be assessed over the coming days to determine his return, with allrounder Jon Merlo also dropping out of the squad heading to Brisbane.
Club news
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Players to watch
Matt Kuhnemann (Heat): Named in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, the left-armer is now the lead spinner at the Heat following Mitch Swepson’s off-season switch to the Stars. Registered his career-best T20 score in their last match against the Strikers to restore some respectability to the score, but didn’t take a wicket for the first time in four matches this season. After a tough start where he yielded 60 runs from his four overs in their record high-scoring win over the Scorchers, Kuhnemann has conceded fewer than 30 runs in his three games since.
Mitch Swepson (Stars): The leg-spinner jumped ship to the Stars this season and despite going wicketless in his first three games, Swepson bowled economically to be a significant factor in their unbeaten start to the season. Took his first wicket for the Stars – bowling Sam Konstas – in their most recent win over the Thunder in Canberra and followed it up with the wicket of Cameron Bancroft lbw to finish with 2-18 from four overs. Will no doubt be keen for another strong showing facing off against his old club for the first time.
Top performers
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
Brisbane Heat have won four of their past five BBL matches against Melbourne Stars but lost by five wickets in their most recent encounter, which was at the Gabba. In fact, they’ll be aiming to avoid back-to-back losses at home to the Stars for the first time in BBL history.
Brisbane Heat have won 10 of their past 13 BBL matches at the Gabba, including their past two in a row; in fact, they’ve scored an average of 213 runs per innings across their past three matches at the venue.
Melbourne Stars have won nine of their past 10 BBL matches after losing seven in a row prior to that. The Stars have won four matches in a row, which have all come batting second on the day and chasing down their target with an average of 21.5 balls remaining.
Brisbane Heat have scored an average of 27.3 runs per wicket batting against the Stars in the BBL, the most of any team against the Stars in the competition and the Heat’s best average against any opponent.
Sam Harper (Melbourne Stars) has scored 194 runs across his past three BBL innings, which is more than he had scored across all his 20 previous innings for the Stars combined (190); though, he’s scored 113 runs at an average of just 14.1 across his last eight innings against the Heat.
What’s on the line?
A fifth straight win for the Stars would keep their undefeated run in BBL|15 intact and maintain their spot ahead of the Hurricanes at the top of the standings. Marcus Stoinis’ side have been almost unstoppable since beating the Heat at the Gabba on New Year’s Day last year, winning nine of their past 10 games. The Heat meanwhile slipped into the bottom four with their disappointing display on New Year’s Eve in Adelaide and will return home seeking their third win of the campaign to move back into the top half of the standings.
KFC BBL|15 standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Total points
PTS
1
STA
4
4
0
0
0
1.779
0
8
2
HUR
5
4
1
0
0
0.432
0
8
3
SCO
4
2
2
0
0
1.034
0
4
4
STR
4
2
2
0
0
0.395
0
4
5
HEA
5
2
3
0
0
-1.019
0
4
6
SIX
4
1
3
0
0
0.096
0
2
7
REN
3
1
2
0
0
-1.003
0
2
8
THU
5
1
4
0
0
-1.463
0
2
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
