BBL 7, Match 40, Preview: Heat in a must-win situation against the Renegades

The Brisbane Heat and the Melbourne Renegades will face each other in the last game of the league round of the Big Bash League (BBL) 7 and a lot of permutations and combinations are into play ahead of this game. Both the teams desperately need a win, but the situation of the Renegades is a tad better than that of the Heat.

The Renegades already have 5 wins under their belt and while a win over the Heat will secure their place in the semi-finals, they will remain in contention even if they lose unless that loss is not by a massive margin. As far as the Heat are concerned, not only they need to win, they need to win big as their net run rate is not that impressive. In case of a loss, they will be out of the tournament.

Playing Combination

Brisbane Heat

The Heat have one of their main players Chris Lynn coming back into the squad for this game and that’s a major confidence booster. Lynn had injured himself after a couple of outings in the tournament and it seemed as if he might not be able to come back this season, but luckily he has recovered just in time for this crunch game and will open the batting with his “Bash Brother” Brendon McCullum tomorrow. The Heat have also roped in the young left hander Matthew Renshaw, but he will probably not be able to get into the XI.

Predicted XI: Brendon McCullum (C), Ben Cutting, Brendon Doggett, Sam Heazlett, Josh Lalor, Chris Lynn, Jimmy Peirson, Alex Ross, Yasir Shah, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson

Melbourne Renegades

The Renegades will be captained by Dwayne Bravo as Aaron Finch and Cameron White are on national duty, while Brad Hodge is out with personal commitments. All three are big players for Renegades and their absence will hurt them, but they still have enough quality in the squad to give the Heat a run for their money.

The captain Bravo will have to lead from the front both with bat and ball and his compatriot Kieron Pollard will have to come to the party as well. Both are match winners on their days, but haven’t looked at their best form with the bat so far in the tournament, tomorrow might be the day.

Predicted XI: Dwayne Bravo (C), Marcus Harris, Tom Cooper, Brad Hogg, Jon Holland, Tim Ludeman, Kieron Pollard, Kane Richardson, Matt Short, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth

Focus will be on-

Chris Lynn (Brisbane Heat)

Lynn will obviously be the one man to watch out for. Even though he is just returning after a lay-off, the Heat will have massive hopes with him and he is the kind of a player who just needs a shot or two to get into his zone, never mind the lack of match practice. He is one of the most dangerous hitters of the white ball going around at the moment and if he hits his straps, the Renegades will be chasing the leather.

Brad Hogg (Melbourne Renegades)

Brad Hogg is on the wrong side of his forties, but is still going strong and his experience may come handy for the Renegades tomorrow. The veteran chinaman still has got the skills to spin the ball both ways, the only shortcoming now is that the shoulders are not young anymore and thus there is not as much fizz in his deliveries as it used to be earlier. However he is still useful in the middle overs and is capable of providing crucial breakthroughs to the team.

Head to Head

Total games played – 8| Brisbane Heat won – 2| Melbourne Renegades won – 6

Timings of the match: 01:50 PM IST

Broadcast Details

TV – SonyESPN

Online – SonyLiv