Get all the latest team news and broadcast details as the Heat host the Scorchers at the Gabba
Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers: match preview
Match facts
Who: Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers
What: Match 6, KFC BBL|15
Where: The Gabba, Brisbane
When: Friday, December 19. Bat flip at 5.30pm local (6.30pm AEDT), first ball at 6.15pm local (7.15pm AEDT)
How to watch: 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: Daryl Brigham and Phil Gillespie (field), Troy Penman (third), Steve Dionysius (fourth), Kepler Wessels (match referee)
Match squads
Brisbane Heat: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tom Balkin (LRP), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Liam Haskett (LRP), Lachlan Hearne, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan McSweeney (c), Colin Munro, Oli Patterson, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
Ins: Tom Balkin, Matthew Kuhnemann. Outs: Paddy Dooley (omitted).
Matthew Kuhnemann will be welcomed back into the squad after missing the club's season opener against the Melbourne Renegades with a side strain. The return of the Australian-capped spinner means Paddy Dooley comes out of the squad, while 21-year-old Tom Balkin has been added as a local replacement player and will be included in the final twelve under BBL regulations.
Perth Scorchers: Ashton Agar, Finn Allen, Mahli Beardman, Cooper Connolly, Brody Couch, Laurie Evans, Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Bryce Jackson, Mitchell Marsh, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner (c)
Ins: Jhye Richardson. Outs: Joel Curtis (omitted).
The Scorchers have received a huge boost heading into Friday night with Jhye Richardson joining the side after being added to the Australian Test squad last week. It will be the 29-year-old's first BBL match in almost a year after undergoing shoulder surgery last season. Local replacement player Joel Curtis makes way for the incoming pace spearhead.
Club news
Brisbane Heat
Perth Scorchers
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Players to watch
Shaheen Afridi (Heat): Expect a world-class player like Shaheen Afridi to rebound strongly after a horror BBL debut that saw him booted from the attack after bowling two no-balls over waist height in the same over in their loss to the Renegades. Finished with 0-43 from 2.4 overs but will enjoy the pace and bounce of their home ground the Gabba more, where he's played twice before for Pakistan for a return of two wickets.
Finn Allen (Scorchers): Will go head-to-head in a mouthwatering match-up against Shaheen. Still yet to fully take the Big Bash by storm after his 16 from eight balls in their first game of the season, Kiwi power-hitter Allen will be eager to build a formidable opening partnership with Aussie T20 skipper Mitch Marsh and showcase his destructive form from elsewhere around the globe, which included an epic 151 from 51 balls in the MLC.
Top performers
Most Runs
BBL|15 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
Finn Allen
F Allen
|
466 |
|
2
David Warner
D Warner
|
433 |
|
3
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
381 |
|
4
Mitch Marsh
M Marsh
|
360 |
|
5
Aaron Hardie
A Hardie
|
339 |
|
6
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
324 |
|
7
Ben McDermott
B McDermott
|
322 |
|
8
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
311 |
Most Wickets
BBL|15 BKT Golden Arm
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Haris Rauf
H Rauf
|
20 |
|
2
Jack Edwards
J Edwards
|
19 |
|
3
Gurinder Sandhu
G Sandhu
|
18 |
|
4
Tom Curran
T Curran
|
16 |
|
5
Peter Siddle
P Siddle
|
16 |
|
6
Ben Dwarshuis
B Dwarshuis
|
16 |
|
7
Xavier Bartlett
X Bartlett
|
15 |
|
8
Lloyd Pope
L Pope
|
15 |
Most sixes scored
BBL|15
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Finn Allen
F Allen
|
38 |
|
2
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
20 |
|
3
Mitch Marsh
M Marsh
|
20 |
|
4
David Warner
D Warner
|
20 |
|
5
Nikhil Chaudhary
N Chaudhary
|
17 |
|
6
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
17 |
|
7
Ashton Turner
A Turner
|
16 |
|
8
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
15 |
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Perth Scorchers have won 11 of their last 13 BBL matches against the Brisbane Heat, including each of their last two; although, their most recent defeat in that span came when they last met at the Gabba in January 2024.
- Brisbane Heat have won only one of their last eight BBL matches – a five-wicket victory against Sydney Thunder (January 6, 2025). The Heat have lost each of their four games since then and the last time they recorded a longer losing run was an eight-match span from January to December in 2022.
- Perth Scorchers have recorded a collective batting strike rate of 150-plus in each of their last two BBL innings (151.5 and 191.8).
- Xavier Bartlett (Brisbane Heat) has taken 34 wickets at a strike rate of 14.4 across his last 22 BBL innings; although, one of the two innings he went wicketless in that span was when he last faced the Perth Scorchers on Boxing Day last year.
- Cooper Connolly (Perth Scorchers) has scored 478 runs at an average of 53.1 across his last 13 BBL innings. He scored 37 runs in his only innings against the Brisbane Heat in that span.
What's on the line?
The injury-hit Heat need to get a win on the board early, especially at home, to instill confidence into their group that they can contend this season. The Scorchers look back to their best in BBL|15 after missing the finals last season and will look to keep that form rolling during their trip to Brisbane.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
SCO
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.363 | 0 | 14 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.605 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
HUR
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.759 | 0 | 12 |
|
5
HEA
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.431 | 0 | 10 |
|
6
STR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.231 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.202 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -1.212 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points