The Big Bash returns to Canberra on Monday as the Thunder host the Heat fresh off their record-breaking win
Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat: match preview
Match facts
Who: Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat
What: Match 9, KFC BBL|15
Where: Manuka Oval, Canberra
When: Monday, December 22. 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: Claire Polosak and Shawn Craig (field), Daryl Brigham (third), Drew Crozier (fourth), Kent Hannam (match referee)
Match squads
Sydney Thunder: Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings, Chris Green, Matt Gilkes, Ryan Hadley, Shadab Khan, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Aidan O'Connor, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, Reece Topley, David Warner (c)
Ins: Aidan O'Connor. Outs: Tom Andrews (omitted)
The Thunder have made just one change after their loss to the Sydney Sixers, with uncapped seam-bowling allrounder Aidan O'Connor coming in for Tom Andrews. O'Connor, 19, who signed a two-year deal with the Thunder in October, already has a number of accomplishments under his belt having received the Jamie Cox Young Men's Player of the Year at last season's Cricket Tasmania Awards and representing the Prime Minister's XI against India.
Brisbane Heat: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tom Alsop, Tom Balkin, Xavier Bartlett (c), Max Bryant, Liam Haskett, Lachlan Hearne, Matthew Kuhnemann, Colin Munro, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
Ins: Tom Alsop. Outs: Nathan McSweeney (injured), Oli Patterson (omitted)
Xavier Bartlett will add captaincy duties to his growing cricket résumé when he leads the Heat into Monday's match against the Thunder. The prolific seamer takes over as stand-in skipper from Nathan McSweeney, who injured his ankle in a catching attempt during Brisbane's gripping contest against the Perth Scorchers. McSweeney will consult with specialists in the coming days to determine the extent of the injury. Tom Alsop has been named in the squad for the first time in BBL|15 after overcoming a bout of knee soreness, while Oli Patterson has been omitted.
"Xavier's poised to play big role with Australian Cricket in the future and we believe the captaincy is a great opportunity for him to expand his skillset," Heat coach Johan Botha said. "He's got some very experienced players and leaders around him like Colin Munro, Shaheen (Shah Afridi) and Jimmy Peirson and we know they will get around him and help out as needed during our matches."
Club news
Sydney Thunder
Brisbane Heat
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Players to watch
David Warner (Thunder): A new role it seems for the veteran batter this BBL season, coming in at No.3 for his two off seven in their Sydney Smash loss to the Sixers on Saturday night. Warner may bat at three or four depending on whether the first Thunder wicket to fall is a right- or left-hander. The skipper will be eager for a strong showing against the Heat to get the winless Thunder on the board in BBL|15.
Jack Wildermuth (Heat): A hot start with both bat and ball for the destructive allrounder; he sits inside the top five for runs scored and wickets taken so far in BBL|15. Took 3-34 in their first up loss to the Renegades before adding another scalp against the Scorchers. Wildermuth then smashed past his previous highest BBL score of 31 with a stunning 54-ball unbeaten 110 in just his third innings as an opener in their record run chase to down Perth. The right-hander had teased this kind of white-ball form for Queensland in the domestic competitions as well as for Valley in the T20 Max tournament earlier this year, but it's easy to forget he hadn't played a BBL match since January 2022 prior to this season.
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
- Brisbane Heat have won their past four BBL matches against Sydney Thunder; a fifth consecutive win in this game would be the Heat's outright longest winning run against the Thunder in the history of the competition (also won four from January 2016 to January 2019).
- Sydney Thunder have lost their past three BBL matches, including their two games this BBL|15 season. The last time the Thunder started a campaign on a longer losing run was a four-match span from December 2016 to January 2017.
- Brisbane Heat have lost their past four BBL matches outside Queensland, more defeats than they logged across their 13 games prior outside their home state (won 10, lost 3). They've lost all three of their matches on the road in 2025 – only in 2015 (lost 5) and 2011 (lost 2) they've failed to record a win in such fixtures in a calendar year.
- Nathan McAndrew (Sydney Thunder) has taken 11 wickets at an average of 16 across his past six BBL innings; although, he's gone wicketless across his last three innings against Brisbane Heat.
- Matt Renshaw (Brisbane Heat) has scored 282 runs at an average of 56.4 across his past six BBL innings, including 102 runs against Perth Scorchers last time out. Renshaw wasn't dismissed in his most recent innings against Sydney Thunder (48no – January 6, 2025).
What's on the line?
The Thunder are now the only winless team in BBL|15 and return to their second home of Canberra needing to get their season back on track. A third straight loss would see them playing catch up for rest of the tournament to try and qualify to finals. Meanwhile, the Heat will be aiming to keep their momentum rolling after their league record run chase to beat the Scorchers, which was their first win of the season.
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