Key battles that could decide the Sixers-Heat Challenger

They're the only team not to lose to the Sydney Sixers this season, and that was without their star Australian trio of batters, so can the Brisbane Heat cause another upset in the KFC BBL|12 Challenger?

That match will forever be remembered for Michael Neser's incredible but contentious boundary line catch, but it was the work of Heat rookies Josh Brown and Nathan McSweeney earlier with the bat that ensured the home side got over the line in a Gabba thriller.

The return match a few days late at North Sydney Oval was unfortunately washed out after Colin Munro smacked 38 from 14 balls, meaning the Heat remain the only the Sixers haven't beaten in BBL|12.

Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw and Mitchell Swepson are all involved in Australia's Qantas Tour of India with the job to continue the club's dream end of season run now left to McSweeney, Max Bryant and Sam Heazlett, who hasn't played all tournament.

"It's a real challenge for us to try and get over the line against them," said Sixers batter Jordan Silk, who yesterday re-signed with the club for another three seasons.

"There's obviously some big holes there from a batting sense, I don’t think their bowling attack changes too much.

"Looking back to the game at the Gabba, they were without all those batters as well and they had people like Brown and McSweeney stand up.

"Queensland still produce very good cricketers and we will be well aware and well researched heading into Thursday to make sure we can stop them like we weren't able to do at the Gabba."

Ahead of Thursday night's Challenger at the SCG, we've crunched the Opta data to find four key battles that could decide the fate of both teams:

Brown v Abbott

Bat-maker Josh Brown got a hold of the Sixers attack, including Abbott with a six and four off consecutive deliveries, before the competition's leading wicket-taker of all-time brought him undone after only being introduced into the attack in the seventh over.

Brown's 23-ball 62 in just the second BBL match of his career remains his only half century of the tournament. His strike rate of 144 in the first six overs of the innings is fourth to only Colin Munro (162.63), Steve Smith (157.78) and Caleb Jewell (151.41) this season, but he has also been out nine times in his 12 BBL|12 innings during the period, the third most of any batter behind Josh Philippe and Matthew Gilkes with 10.

Meanwhile, Abbott has been the tournament's equal-most successful bowler in overs one to six alongside Jason Behrendorff with 11 wickets, showcasing some impressive swing with the new ball all tournament and an excellent economy rate of 6.70 during this period. "(Jackson Bird) sitting on the sidelines is one of the best in the tournament in the Powerplay so I've got to put my hand up and perform well there," Abbott said.

Silk v Kuhnemann

Only Renegades allrounder Will Sutherland (179) has scored more death overs (16-20) runs than Silk's 164 striking at 150 in BBL|12, with the Sixers stalwart enjoying his second most productive Big Bash season with 353 runs so far behind his BBL|10 campaign (382 runs).

Key to that has been his work with skipper Moises Henriques during the middle overs (7-15) with the pair scoring 353 runs between them striking at 122 after opener Josh Philippe and No.3 Kurtis Patterson have struggled to get going this campaign.

But Silk's strike rate to spin has dropped into the eighties (88) for just the second time in his BBL career, meaning left-armer Matthew Kuhnemann will play a huge role as the Heat's only frontline spinner in ensuring Silk doesn't reach the destructive death overs. Kuhnemann has been operating at an economy rate under eight (7.90) for BBL|12 and will be buoyed by fellow left-arm finger spinner Steve O'Keefe's returns this season playing predominately on a turning SCG, with the second lowest economy rate (6.00) in the entire tournament.

Spin v seam

There's no doubt the SCG pitch has returned to its traditional drier spinning surface this summer after significant rain throughout October and November hampered curators' efforts to get an even covering of grass across the entire square. But it hasn't necessarily meant the quicks still haven't been effective.

While BBL|12 has yielded the seventh lowest economy rate of all seasons for spinners (6.98), it's been the second lowest for seamers (7.55), proving most effective in the middle overs with 18 wickets falling to quicks, also the second-best return throughout the history of the competition. But the composition of the wicket has seen fast bowlers deploy change ups more regularly, with 19.3 per cent of deliveries bowled off cutters.

The relative success of the seamers is a situation not lost on Heat stand-in skipper Jimmy Peirson. "The SCG can be a little bit two-paced sometimes so someone like Mark Steketee could come in and bowl that faster speed and hit the wicket to create opportunities," he told cricket.com.au. And with the Sixers likely to deploy two frontline spinners in O'Keefe and Afghan leggie Izharulhaq Naveed and the Heat only one, it makes for an interesting battle on a tough batting pitch where balls per boundary (8.0) is at its highest point ever.

Philippe v Neser

The Sixers opener hasn't been at his best this season, producing his lowest output of his five full BBL seasons. Meanwhile, Neser is in the T20 form of his life with his 24 scalps by far his most productive Big Bash tournament across 11 years in the competition.

Philippe has failed to get through the first six overs in 10 of his 14 innings this season, falling to pace bowlers eight times during this period, and his dot ball percentage (36.7) and balls per boundary (8.8) this season is at the highest point of his BBL career.

Neser sits one behind Abbott and Behrendorff with 10 wickets in the first six overs, with both away swing (11.8 per cent of deliveries) and in swing (8.3 per cent) his key weapons. Regardless, Philippe has a proven record in finals with a 29-ball 52 against the Stars in the BBL|09 decider and a 31-ball 52 in the semi-final against the Renegades the season before. No doubt the Sixers will be hoping for a strong turnaround in fortunes for the 25-year-old on Thursday night in the absence of Steve Smith, which would go a long way to securing the club another berth in the BBL Final.

Heat squad v Sixers: Jimmy Peirson (c), Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Sam Hain (England), Sam Heazlett, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Will Prestwidge, Mark Steketee, Ross Whiteley (England), Jack Wildermuth

Sixers squad v Heat: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Josh Kann, Hayden Kerr, Izharulhaq Naveed, Steve O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Lachlan Shaw, Jordan Silk