GameDay Squad AUS Cricket Round 21 Preview: The Sydney Sixers take on the Brisbane Heat in the 24th match of BBL13 in Coffs Harbour at the C.ex Coffs International Stadium and the Perth Scorchers take on the Adelaide Strikers in the 25th match of BBL13 in Perth at the OPTUS Stadium on Wednesday the 3rd of January.
Here's everything you need to know ....
Predicted Teams
Game 1
Sydney Sixers: 1. Josh Philippe, 2. James Vince, 3. Kurtis Patterson, 4. Moises Henriques, 5. Jordan Silk, 6. Tom Curran, 7. Jack Edwards, 8. Ben Dwarshuis, 9. Sean Abbott, 10. Jackson Bird, 11. Steve O'Keefe
Brisbane Heat: 1. Josh Brown, 2. Colin Munro, 3. Nathan McSweeney, 4. Matt Renshaw, 5. Sam Billings, 6. Paul Walter, 7. Xavier Bartlett, 8. Michael Neser, 9. Spencer Johnson, 10. Mitchell Swepson, 11. Matthew Kuhnemann
Game 2
Perth Scorchers: 1. Zak Crawley, 2. Cooper Connolly, 3. Aaron Hardie, 4. Josh Inglis, 5. Laurie Evans, 6. Nick Hobson, 7. Ashton Agar, 8. Jhye Richardson, 9. Andrew Tye, 10. Lance Morris, 11. Jason Behrendorff
Adelaide Strikers: 1. Matt Short, 2. D'Arcy Short, 3. Chris Lynn, 4. Adam Hose, 5. Jamie Overton, 6. Harry Nielsen, 7. Ben Manenti, 8. James Bazley, 9. Wes Agar, 10. Brendan Doggett, 11. Cameron Boyce
Start Vs Sit
Batters - Jack Edwards vs Zak Crawley
Edwards is the 8th ranked batsmen with an average of 46 points. Crawley is the 9th ranked batsmen with an average of 41 points. As you can see, these players are both having a good season but probably not in the way that you think for a batsmen. Crawley is the more traditional batsmen but Edwards is more of a bowler than a batsmen. Edwards has bowled his full complement of overs in the last three matches. This might have something to do with Tom Curran missing through suspension but Edwards did bowl four overs in the last match they both played in. I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps bowling 3 - 4 overs a match. He is also expected to bat at seven in the Sixers batting order and this combined with him being a bowler gives him additional upside compared to batsmen that don't bowl. Tom Curran is meant to be back for this match but due to the Sixers last match being rained off, I'm unsure at this stage if Curran's suspension carries over. Even if he is in the Sixers starting XI, I still lean towards starting Edwards over Crawley.
Start: Jack Edwards
All-Rounder - Paul Walter vs Sean Abbott
Walter has been one of the better all-rounders and averages 54 points. He's taken wickets in three of his four matches and showed he can swing a bat as he scored 30 runs against the Renegades. Abbott has had a stop start tournament but he is still managing to take wickets in every match. Even though Walter averages 14 more points than Abbott, I'm leaning towards Abbott as the fourth starting all-rounder for the GDS XI. I'm going with Abbott due to his track record in the BBL, he's not the leading wicket taker with 158 wickets by accident.
Start: Sean Abbott
Bowler - Andrew Tye vs Mitchell Swepson
Tye has been his consistent self so far but he has been a bit unlucky with a couple of catches going down off his bowling. He should be closer to 60 point average instead of averaging 47 points. Swepson was great in the first couple of matches but has finished outside the top three bowlers in his last two matches. Spin bowlers had a lot of success in the second innings at Coffs Harbour last season where they averaged 17.4 points per over. Even though I'm tempted by this, I'm leaning towards Tye as my third starting bowler. He is currently sitting on 149 BBL wickets and I think he will take his 150th against the Strikers. Hopefully we don't see anymore catches go down off his bowling as he is due for a 3+ wicket performance.
Start: Andrew Tye
Game 1
Matchup Matrix
Key Takeaways:
Opening and lower order batsmen haven't scored well against the Heat
Pace bowlers haven't scored well against the Heat
Lower order batsmen have had success against the Sixers
Ground Matrix
Key Takeaways:
Opening batters in the first innings have scored well
Pace bowlers can struggle to score
Spin bowlers in the second innings have scored well
Game 2
Matchup Matrix
Key Takeaways:
Batsmen struggle to score against the Scorchers
Pace bowlers haven't scored well against either team
Batsmen have scored well against the Strikers
Ground Matrix
Key Takeaways:
Opening batsmen can struggle to score
Lower order batsmen have success here
Avoid playing spin bowlers
Hot Take
The Sixers will win the match against the Heat but Munro will score 75+ runs.
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
BAT - Chris Lynn
BAT - Colin Munro
BAT - Jack Edwards
ALL - Matthew Short
ALL - Aaron Hardie
ALL - Jamie Overton
ALL - Sean Abbott
WK - Josh Inglis
BWL - Jhye Richardson
BWL - Jason Behrendorff
BWL - Andrew Tye