Get all the latest team news and broadcast details as the Renegades and Heat open their BBL|15 campaigns in Geelong
Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat: match preview
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat
What: Match 2, KFC BBL|15
Where: GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
When: Monday, December 15. Bat flip at 6.30pm AEDT, first ball at 7.15pm AEDT
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Listen: ABC, SEN Radio. Listen in standard and real-time with no delay to live play via Cricket Radio on the CA Live app. Find out more here
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: Phil Gillespie and Sam Nogajski (field), Ben Treloar (third), Daryl Brigham (fourth), Kent Hannam (match referee)
Match squads
Melbourne Renegades: Jason Behrendorff, Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Caleb Jewell, Hassan Khan, Fergus O'Neill, Ollie Peake, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert, Matthew Spoors, Will Sutherland (c), Andrew Tye
A recharged Renegades outfit will take to GMHBA Stadium headlined by international recruit Muhammad Rizwan and former Scorchers Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye to beef out the bowling unit. The latter was signed as a replacement player for Tom Rogers who is continuing his recovery from a shoulder injury, with Matthew Spoors also signing as a top-up just days before the club's season opener. Caleb Jewell is primed to feature in Renegades colours for the first time after crossing over from the Hurricanes, while youngsters Ollie Peake and Harry Dixon are shaping as valuable components moving forward.
Brisbane Heat: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Paddy Dooley, Liam Haskett, Lachlan Hearne, Nathan McSweeney (c), Colin Munro, Oli Patterson, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
Nathan McSweeney is set to take the reins as stand-in skipper for the Heat's first outing of BBL|15. Although bolstered by the star power of Shaheen Afridi, the Heat have been dealt a blow on the injury front with Matthew Kuhnemann (side strain) and Tom Alsop (knee soreness) joining Spencer Johnson and Callum Vidler on the sidelines. Spinner Paddy Dooley and seamer Liam Haskett have been called upon as local replacement players in their stead, while Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser remain on Ashes duty for Australia.
Club news
Melbourne Renegades
Brisbane Heat
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Players to watch
Muhammad Rizwan (Renegades): The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter gives great stability to the Renegades top order in BBL|15 in what will be his first season in the Big Bash. Rizwan boasts as T20 career batting average of 43 with three centuries and will take the gloves ahead of New Zealand import Tim Seifert in this Renegades outfit.
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Heat): Pakistan's star left-armer will make his Big Bash debut on Monday night. Afridi is prolific in the T20 format with 334 wickets in 239 games and is a crucial addition for Brisbane this season after the loss of fellow left-armer Spencer Johnson for the season with a back injury.
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Melbourne Renegades have won their past two matches against Brisbane Heat at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong.
- Xavier Bartlett will play his 50th Big Bash match for Brisbane Heat if selected against the Renegades.
- After Sean Abbott, Renegades fast bowlers Andrew Tye (29) and Jason Behrendorff (28) have taken the second and third most wickets respectively against Brisbane Heat. However, all those wickets came while playing for Perth Scorchers, with the pair having switched clubs ahead of this season.
What's on the line?
Both clubs will be out to start the season on the front foot after narrowly missing the finals last season. Big name draft picks, Pakistan teammates Muhammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi will also go head-to-head in a mouthwatering battle.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SCO
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.235 | 0 | 2 |
|
2
STR
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
3
HEA
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
4
HUR
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
5
REN
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
6
STA
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
7
THU
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
8
SIX
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1.235 | 0 | 0 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points