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Bottom of the table Brisbane Heat welcome Sydney Sixers to the Gabba on New Year’s Day for Match 25 of this season’s Big Bash League. After four successive victories, Sydney Sixers are strong favourites to make it five in a row with 4/7 (1.57) odds of leaving Brisbane with another win.
- Match 25, BBL 2022-23
- Sunday January 1st, from 08:15 AM GMT
- The Gabba, Brisbane
Pitch Report and Weather Conditions
Contents
The Gabba pitch is a lot more bowler-friendly nowadays than in previous years and we expect the quick bowlers to get movement off the surface. That said, there is still good pace in the wicket for the batters to enjoy and making a big individual score is not out of the question.
There will be cloud cover throughout this match and the humidity levels will also increase to 70% which should mean some movement through the air for the swing bowlers. Conditions for the spectators will be pleasant with the temperature in the low-20s.
Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Sixers – Match Predictions
This game brings together two teams who have contrasting BBL form. Brisbane Heat, the hosts, lost six successive matches at the end of the 2021-22 BBL and have won only one of their five games so far in this campaign.
On the other hand, Sydney Sixers just can’t stop winning at the moment and were able to rest all-time BBL leading wicket taker, Sean Abott, for their match against Melbourne Renegades and still win comfortably. So, we expect them to win again in this game.
Prediction 1
Sixers to Hit Most Sixes
10/11 (1.91)
Prediction 2
Abbot to Take Most Wickets for Sixers
3/1 (4.00)
Prediction 3
Vince to Be the Man of the Match
9/1 (10.00)
Probable 6s
Sydney Sixers hit three sixes across their innings against Melbourne Renegades with opener Kurtis Patterson hitting one and James Vince striking two. However, Colin Munro hit three sixes on his own against Sydney Thunder and he is world-renowned for scoring maximums in this format.
Our Prediction: Brisbane Heat to Hit Most Sixes
Probable Wickets
After taking nine wickets from the opening five games of the tournament, Sydney Sixers had the luxury of being able to rest Sean Abbott for their game on Friday. He has a strike-rate of 12 in the 2022-23 BBL and is the leading wicket taker on his side.
Our Prediction: Sean Abbot to Be the Highest Wicket Taker for Sydney Sixers
Man of the Match
There are plenty of contenders on both sides for this award. For Brisbane Heat, Colin Munro made 98 in the last game and he looks to have finally settled at his new team.
For Sydney Sixers, Jordan Silk is their leading run scorer but we have selected English batter James Vince. Although he has not yet hit a half-century in this competition, he has previously hit seven scores of 50+ in the BBL and he has made encouraging starts in his last three innings (33, 26, 39).
Our Prediction: James Vince to Be the Man of the Match
Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Sixers Preview
By the end of this game, we could well have seen the bottom of the table side take on the top of the table team. Brisbane Heat have not come close to winning their last two matches whereas Sydney Sixers have been very comfortable victors in their most recent games.
Brisbane Heat
There were runs at the top of the order for Colin Munro (98) and BBL best figures of 4-22 from James Bazley in Heat’s last game against Sydney Thunder. Although they have struggled for consistency, performances like those are going to yield some wins at some point for Brisbane Heat.
Sam Billings made 79 runs from 48 balls in the last game at the Gabba and his team need him to produce another big score in this match. We do not anticipate any changes to Brisbane Heat’s team for this game.
Playing XI: Colin Munro, Max Bryant, Sam Hain, Sam Billings, Jimmy Peirson (c) (wk), Ross Whiteley, James Bazley, Michael Neser, Mark Steketee, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Swepson
Sydney Sixers
The Sixers are a well-oiled BBL machine and their recent results and performances have fitted with their strong form from the last four BBL campaigns. Since beating Hobart Hurricanes by six runs on December 22, Sydney Sixers have got better in each match.
There is a real team spirit in the side and all four of their victories have taken place without an individual player taking more than two wickets. Furthermore, no batter has hit more than 55 runs in an innings and we have seen contributions from across their batting line-up. We expect Sean Abbott to return to the team in place of Jackson Bird for this game.
Playing XI: Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe (wk), James Vince, Mises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Dan Christian, Hayden Kerrm Ben Dwarshuis, Chris Jordan, Jackson Bird, Izharulhaq Naveed
How to watch Big Bash in the UK: Live Streaming and Channel List
This game will be shown in full on the Sky Sports Cricket channel with fans able to stream the match via laptops, tablets and phones on Sky Go.
- Sky Sports Cricket (TV)
- Sky Go App (Streaming)
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