Saturday’s only Twenty20 Big Bash Round 2 match is between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes. The opening ball is set to commence at 19:10 with the game to be played at GABBA. The home team Brisbane Heat are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes.
When: 19:10 | Saturday 28/12/2013
Where: GABBA
Brisbane Heat $1.64 vs Hobart Hurricanes $2.27 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Brisbane Heat $1.67 vs Hobart Hurricanes $2.20 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison:
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| Brisbane Heat | 1.64 | 1.65 | 1.67 | 1.65 | 1.64 | 1.67 |
| Hobart Hurricanes | 2.27 | 2.25 | 2.20 | 2.25 | 2.27 | 2.20 |
Teams:
After Sunday’s rain-affected match at Bellerive, Hobart Hurricanes get the chance for their first win of the season when they head north to face Brisbane Heat.
Overview
In the most exciting match in the opening round of BBL|03, the Brisbane Heat pinched the points from the back pocket of the Perth Scorchers last Sunday night, thanks to the late fireworks of Chris Lynn and Ben Cutting.
Last year’s Champions had to fight until the very end to secure victory, after a less than ideal start to their run chase.
The Heat bowlers had done a great job to slow the Scorchers’ momentum in the middle overs, but their top order batsmen made the chase harder than it perhaps should have been.
By contrast, Hurricanes’ batsmen didn’t even open their kits last Sunday afternoon in Hobart, with their game rained off after just six overs in the field.
The Hurricanes’ bowlers might still be wishing they never got on in the first place, with all five of them going the journey in a short session of major Adelaide Strikers carnage.
Key Battle: Luke Pomersbach v Dougie Bollinger
Pomersbach was the second on the leading runscorers list for BBL|02, just 15 runs behind Perth’s Shaun Marsh. A very dynamic batsman, Pomersbach seems to take little to no time to get himself ‘in’, and then can really take a bowling attack down.
He might not be spoken of in the same tones as Marsh or Finch, or even Warner, but he’s just as capable of blasting opposition bowlers into submission.
Bollinger’s been released from the Test squad to play in this game, and he’ll also want to redeem himself for copping a bit of tap before the rain set in last Sunday in Hobart.
Dark Horse: Daniel Vettori
Vettori’s quality can best be summed up with this sequence of numbers: 0 0 0 1 W 1 and 0 2 0 1 0 0.
Vettori’s third and fourth overs, respectively, against Perth last weekend, where he so superbly put the brakes on the Scorchers’ innings, never allowing them to get away and post the bigger innings than they did.
Vettori finished with 1/21 from his four overs, proving he’s still one of the best slow bowlers in cricket.
Last Time
January 12, 2013 @ Blundstone Arena, Hobart: In the last regular fixture of BBL|02, Brisbane catapulted themselves into the semi-finals thanks to a brutal 42-ball 82 from Heat opener, Luke Pomersbach.
Chasing down the Hurricanes’ 150 with 35 balls remaining, Pomersbach and Joe Burns (41 not out) added 107 for the second wicket to all but get the job done.
Hobart had only lost three wickets themselves in setting their target, with Heat allrounder taking 2/32 from his four overs.
Facts and Figures
Chris Lynn’s match-winning 81 against the Scorchers is the highest score so far for the tournament and got his team out of a spot of bother when he came to the middle at 3/22.
He also leads the tournament in the fence-clearing department, hitting six maximums last Sunday night at the ‘Gabba.
BBL Technical Committee has approved a change for the Hobart Hurricanes, with former Test opening bowler Ben Hilfenhaus passed fit to resume his place in the Hurricanes squad.
Hilfenhaus’ replacement Kelvin Smith will be removed from the Hurricanes’ 18-player squad.
‘The Hilf’ averages 14.3 with the ball for the Hurricanes in his handful of games, at the very impressive economy rate of 5.37 rpo.
Former New Zealand Captain Dan Vettori comes into this game as one of only seven bowlers to concede less than a run a ball in BBL|03.
Source: theroar.com.au