Match: Sydney Sixers vs Brisbane Heat (SS vs BH)
Date: February 2, Thursday, 3.45 PM IST
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Sydney Sixers will clash against Brisbane Heat in the Challenger of the Big Bash League 2022-23 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on February 2.
The Brisbane Heat, led by Usman Khawaja, once languished at the bottom of the points table but made a remarkable comeback to make it to the playoffs. They defeated Sydney Thunder by eight runs (DLS Method) in the Eliminator, following which they beat Melbourne Renegades by seven wickets to make it to the Challenger.
Against the Renegades, the Sixers won by seven wickets. Their bowlers put up a good effort to restrict the Renegades to a first innings total of 162 runs, which they chased down in 18.5 overs. Xavier Bartlett and Michael Neser picked up five wickets between them for the Heat.
The Sixers, on the other hand, started their campaign with two losses but made a strong comeback by winning a streak of games. However, they lost to Perth Scorchers in the Qualifier by seven wickets but will get a second chance to play the final as they topped the points table in the league stage. After scoring 151 runs on the back of a half century from Kurtis Patterson, the Sixers’ bowlers were unable to defend the target as the Scorchers cruised to victory with nine balls to spare.
Ahead of the Challenger game of BBL 2022, let’s look at the head to head of both the teams, pitch report, weather update, top picks for your MPL fantasy team and more.
Weather update and pitch report for SS vs BH, BBL 2023
The pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground has been balanced in the few games of this season but generally it’s a good batting pitch and we can expect a total in excess of 165. The Sixers have won all five of their matches at the SCG.
Overall, a total of 20 T20Is have been played at this venue, of which 11 have been won by the teams batting first. The captain winning the toss is thus likely to opt to bat first.
The average first innings score from those 20 games is 162, while the average second innings score is 130. The highest and lowest T20 total recorded at this venue is 221 for 5 and 110 for 10.
The weather in Sydney will be mostly cloudy and there is a slight chance of rain interrupting the game. The temperature will fluctuate between 17 to 20 degrees.
Brisbane Heat team news and predicted XI
Team news: Nathan McSweeney has come in as a local replacement for Marnus Labuschagne, who is away with international commitments alongside Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw and Swepson.
Squad: Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Sam Billings, Max Bryant, Sam Hain, Sam Heazlett, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Munro, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ross Whiteley, Jack Wildermuth, Spencer Johnson, Will Prestwidge, Josh Brown
Predicted XI: Colin Munro, Max Bryant, Sam Billings, Jimmy Peirson, Ross Whiteley, James Bazley, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Mitchell Swepson, Mark Steketee, Matthew Kuhnemann
Sydney Sixers team news and predicted XI
Team news: Steve Smith is unavailable for the Sixers due to his commitments with the Australian team which is in India for the Border Gavaskar series. Smith scored 346 runs at a strike rate of 174.74 in just five innings and his absence could leave a big void to fill for the Sixers.
Squad: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Izharulhaq Naveed, Chris Jordan, Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince, Todd Murphy, Mickey Edwards, Jack Edwards, Steve Smith, Josh Kann, Naveen-ul-Haq
Predicted XI: Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, James Vince, Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Dan Christian, Hayden Kerr, Sean Abbott, Chris Jordan, Jackson Bird, Steve O’Keefe
Head to head record
Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat have played each other 18 times in the BBL, where the Sixers have emerged victorious in 11 games while the Heat have seven wins. In the last 5 matches played between the two sides, the Sixers have won four.
Five players to watch out for
Here we list five players you must pick in your MPL fantasy XI SS vs BH, BBL 2023
Jordan Silk – batsman, Sydney Sixers
Jordan Silk scored an unbeaten 47 off 33 against Perth Scorchers in the Qualifier match and is the leading run-scorer for the Sixers this season with 353 runs from 13 innings at an average of 50.42. In all, the right-hand batsman has a batting average and strike rate of 31.85 and 125.12 in 112 T20s.
Jimmy Peirson – wicketkeeper batsman, Brisbane Heat
The Australian wicketkeeper batsman didn’t get a chance to bat against the Renegades in the last game but still remains the leading run scorer for Heat with 324 runs from 15 innings at an average of 27. In all, the batsman has played 105 T20s from which he has an average of 22.28 and a strike rate of almost 124.
Michael Neser – all-rounder, Brisbane Heat
The bowling all-rounder was impressive in the previous game against Renegades in which he took two big wickets. Neser is the leading wicket-taker Heat with 24 wickets from 14 innings and has also scored 93 runs with the bat.
Sean Abbott – all-rounder, Sydney Sixers
Sean Abbott took three wickets against the Scorchers in the last match, which was his fourth three-wicket haul from the last six matches. He is the leading wicket-taker of BBL 2023 with 28 wickets from 14 innings.
Hayden Kerr – all-rounder, Sydney Sixers
Hayden Kerr was not able to take any wickets against the Scorchers in the last game but has done well this season with 16 wickets and 117 runs from seven innings.
MPL fantasy XI – SS vs BH, BBL 2022
Wicketkeeper: Jimmy Pierson
Batters: Moises Henriques, Jordan Silk, Josh Brown, Daniel Hughes
All-rounders: Michael Neser, Matt Renshaw, Hayden Kerr
Bowlers: Matthew Kuhnemann, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis
SS vs BH – where and what time to watch the match live in India
The Sydney Sixers vs Brisbane Heat game at the BBL 2023 will televised on the Sony Sports Network in India. You can also watch the game on the Sony Liv app. The match will begin at 3.45 PM IST on February 2.
Check out our detailed guide on fantasy cricket for more tips and tricks. https://www.mpl.live/blog/todays-match-prediction/
Note: The players recommended here need not be a part of the Playing 11 on game day. Users are advised to do their own research also and follow official sources and create their teams.
