The Thunder are on a three-game winning streak as they head to Brisbane to take on the reigning champions
Brisbane Heat v Sydney Thunder: match preview
Match facts
Who: Brisbane Heat v Sydney Thunder
What: Match 25, KFC BBL|14
Where: The Gabba, Brisbane
When: Monday, January 6. Bat flip at 5:30pm local (6:30pm AEDT), first ball at 6:15pm local (7:15pm AEDT)
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps
Officials: Andrew Crozier and Eloise Sheridan (field), Donovan Koch (third), Riki Wessels (fourth) David Johnston (match referee)
Final XI
Brisbane Heat: Colin Munro (c), Jack Wood, Matthew Renshaw, Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant, Tom Alsop (wk), Michael Neser, Spencer Johnson, Xavier Bartlett, Mitch Swepson, Matt Kuhnemann
Michael Neser comes in for his first game of the campaign which happens to be his 100th BBL game.
Sydney Thunder: David Warner (c), Matthew Gilkes, Oliver Davies, Sam Billings (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Hugh Weibgen, Chris Green, Daniel Christian, Tom Andrews, Lockie Ferguson, Wes Agar
Daniel Christian is confirmed to start for the Sydney Thunder in what will bring the 41-year-old out of retirement.
Hugh Weibgen is also in the side after his debut last match where he was call-up during the game following a clash in the field between Cameron Bancroft and Daniel Sams.
Match squads
Brisbane Heat: Colin Munro (New Zealand) (c), Tom Alsop (England) (wk), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Paul Walter (England), Jack Wildermuth, Jack Wood
Ins: Jack Wildermuth
Allrounder Jack Wildermuth has been included in the Heat squad in the only addition to the group that travelled to Coffs Harbour for the washed-out game against the Sydney Sixers on Friday.
English draft pick Tom Alsop is set to make his BBL debut while allrounder Michael Neser is also aiming to play his first match of the season after recovering from a hamstring tendon injury.
Sydney Thunder: David Warner (c), Wes Agar, Tom Andrews, Sam Billings (England), Dan Christian, Ollie Davies, Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand), Matthew Gilkes, Toby Gray, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Blake Nikitaras, Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), Hugh Weibgen
Ins: Dan Christian, Hugh Weibgen. Outs: Cameron Bancroft (fractured shoulder and nose), Daniel Sams (concussion)
The Thunder have brought in assistant coach Dan Christian and 20-year-old allrounder Hugh Weibgen as injury replacements to face the Heat. Christian, who has been serving as Thunder's assistant coach since his retirement two seasons ago, answered a late call-up to bolster the team amid a mounting injury toll.
Weibgen was brought in as a concussion substitute against the Scorchers and played a pivotal role in Thunder's run successful run chase.
With Tanveer Sangha (side strain), Jason Sangha (bicep), Daniel Sams (concussion), Cameron Bancroft (broken nose and fractured shoulder), and Sam Konstas (Australian Test duties) unavailable, the club was forced to make changes to their roster.
Thunder general manager Trent Copeland acknowledged that while the club had hoped to have their original squad available throughout the tournament, injuries were an inevitable part of professional sport and adaptability was key.
"We're very fortunate to have Dan already within the club. He's a legend of the BBL and we've got no doubt he's still up to the level. We can't wait to see him jump back into this environment and make an impact," Copeland said.
Club news
Brisbane Heat
Sydney Thunder
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Top performers
Most Runs
BBL|14 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
Mitchell Owen
M Owen
|
452 |
|
2
David Warner
D Warner
|
405 |
|
3
Cooper Connolly
C Connolly
|
351 |
|
4
Glenn Maxwell
G Maxwell
|
325 |
|
5
Marcus Stoinis
M Stoinis
|
311 |
|
6
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
280 |
|
7
Sam Billings
S Billings
|
271 |
|
8
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
259 |
Most Wickets
BBL|14 BKT Golden Arm
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Jason Behrendorff
J Behrendorff
|
17 |
|
2
Riley Meredith
R Meredith
|
16 |
|
3
Tom Rogers
T Rogers
|
16 |
|
4
Mark Steketee
M Steketee
|
15 |
|
5
Lance Morris
L Morris
|
15 |
|
6
Lloyd Pope
L Pope
|
15 |
|
7
Ben Dwarshuis
B Dwarshuis
|
14 |
|
8
Spencer Johnson
S Johnson
|
13 |
Most sixes scored
BBL|14
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Mitchell Owen
M Owen
|
36 |
|
2
Glenn Maxwell
G Maxwell
|
27 |
|
3
Cooper Connolly
C Connolly
|
19 |
|
4
Tim David
T David
|
17 |
|
5
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
17 |
|
6
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
14 |
|
7
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
12 |
|
8
Jake Fraser-McGurk
J Fraser-McGurk
|
12 |
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Brisbane Heat have won their last three straight BBL games against the Sydney Thunder after losing four in a row against them prior to that frame.
- Brisbane Heat have lost their last two BBL games at the Gabba after losing only one of their previous 10 games at the venue, while the Sydney Thunder have won four of their last five games in the competition including their last three in a row.
- No team has dropped fewer catches than the Brisbane Heat (4) this BBL season, less than half that of the Sydney Thunder (10); in fact, the Heat have finished four of their last seven games without dropping a catch.
- Xavier Bartlett (Brisbane Heat) is on an eight-game streak of taking wickets at the Gabba in the BBL, taking 17 wickets across that stretch including figures of 4-10 against the Melbourne Stars on New Year’s Day 2025; he also took 3-29 in his last innings against the Sydney Thunder at the venue.
- David Warner has a batting average of 39.9 from all his 15 innings for the Sydney Thunder, the highest of any batter for the Thunder in BBL history; he scored 36 runs from 20 deliveries in his only previous innings against the Brisbane Heat, including five boundaries.
KFC BBL|14 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
HUR
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -0.12 | 0 | 15 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.156 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
THU
|
10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.34 | 0 | 12 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.135 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
SCO
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.219 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
REN
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.139 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
HEA
|
10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | -0.831 | 0 | 7 |
|
8
STR
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -0.122 | 0 | 6 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points