GameDay Squad AUS Cricket Challenger Round Preview: The Brisbane Heat take on the Adelaide Strikers in the Challenger round of BBL13 in Carrara at the Carrara Stadium on Monday the 22nd of January.
Here's everything you need to know ....
Predicted Teams
Brisbane Heat: 1. Josh Brown, 2. Jimmy Peirson, 3. Nathan McSweeney, 4. Matt Renshaw, 5. Max Bryant, 6. Paul Walter, 7. Michael Neser, 8. Xavier Bartlett, 9. Spencer Johnson, 10. Mitchell Swepson, 11. Matthew Kuhnemann
Adelaide Strikers: 1. Matt Short, 2. D'Arcy Short, 3. Jake Weatherald, 4. Thomas Kelly, 5. Harry Nielsen, 6. Ben Manenti, 7. James Bazley, 8. Henry Thornton, 9. David Payne, 10. Cameron Boyce, 11. Lloyd Pope
Start Vs Sit
Batters - Max Bryant vs Thomas Kelly
Going by the predicted starting XIs for these teams, it looks like there is going to be four players with a batter position designation available to select from. I have Brown and Weatherald locked in as two of the starters for the GDS starting XI. It's a battle between Bryant and Kelly for that third starting position. In the batter rankings for AUS Cricket, Bryant is ranked 19th with an average of 33 points and Kelly is ranked 37th with an average of 16 points. Bryant has ranked as one of the top three batters in a match in two of his three matches. Kelly has ranked as one of the top three batters in a match in three of his six matches. With Bryant being a local Gold Coast lad and showing more consistency with the bat, I have him ranked higher than Kelly for this match.
Start: Max Bryant
All-rounder - Nathan McSweeney vs D'Arcy Short
Both of these players have had an occasional good fantasy performance but both are ranked outside the top fifteen ranked all-rounders in AUS Cricket. In the all-rounder rankings, McSweeney is ranked 23rd with an average of 28 points and Short is ranked 18th with an average of 33 points. McSweeney has ranked as one of the top four all-rounders in a match in three of his seven matches. Short has ranked as one of the top four all-rounders in a match in seven of his ten matches. Both players have looked out of touch in their last few matches and they both offer similar ceilings. I'm leaning towards McSweeney because the Heat played at Carrara Stadium a couple of days ago and he might be able to adapt to the conditions quicker than Short can. Also, the Heat only allow an average of 19 points to opening batsmen.
Start: Nathan McSweeney
Bowler - Henry Thornton vs Cameron Boyce
Both bowlers ranked as one of the top three bowlers in the knockout match against the Scorches in Perth. Thornton scored 63 points and Boyce scored 71 points. Boyce was the better bowler out of these two as he picked up three wickets compared to Thornton's one wicket. Thornton scored 32 of his 63 points through the cameo he made with the bat. Going by their performance against the Scorchers, it seems like Boyce should be the likely choice to start in this match but I prefer Thornton at this venue. In the qualifier match between the Heat and Sixers there were 18 wickets taken by the bowlers. Of these wickets, only one of them was taken by a spin bowler. I'm not sure if the challenger match will take place on the same pitch, but after the low scores in the qualifier for spin bowlers, I'm inclined to start Thornton ahead of Boyce.
Start: Henry Thornton
Matchup Matrix
Key Takeaways:
Opening and middle order batsmen haven't scored well against the Heat
Pace and spin bowlers haven't scored well against the Strikers
Pace bowlers have scored well against the Heat
Ground Matrix
Key Takeaways:
Opening batsmen in the second innings can score well here
Middle and lower batsmen haven't scored well in the second innings
Pace bowlers in the second innings can score well here
Hot Take
Nathan McSweeney will score 50+ runs and help the Heat get through to play the Sixers in the final.
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
BAT - Jake Weatherald
BAT - Josh Brown
BAT - Max Bryant
ALL - Matthew Short
ALL - Michael Neser
ALL - Paul Walter
ALL - Nathan McSweeney
WK - Jimmy Peirson
BWL - Xavier Bartlett
BWL - Spencer Johnson
BWL - Henry Thornton