The Hurricanes will be aiming to clinch top spot when they host the Heat at Ninja Stadium
Hobart Hurricanes v Brisbane Heat: match preview
Match facts
Who: Hobart Hurricanes v Brisbane Heat
What: Match 35, KFC BBL|15
Where: Ninja Stadium, Hobart
When: Wednesday, January 14. 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: Mike Graham-Smith and Riki Wessels (field), Donovan Koch (third), Simon Burns (fourth), Xavier Doherty (match referee)
Match squads
Hobart Hurricanes: Rehan Ahmed, Nikhil Chaudhary, Nathan Ellis (c), Rishad Hossain, Chris Jordan, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Will Prestwidge, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Mac Wright
Ins: Nathan Ellis. Outs: Charlie Wakim (omitted).
Skipper Nathan Ellis has swiftly returned to the fold after being managed for the Hurricanes' last match against the Sixers. Batter Charlie Wakim comes out of the squad in place of the incoming captain. Meanwhile, Test opener Jake Weatherald is expected to be available for BBL|15 finals.
Brisbane Heat: Tom Balkin, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Zaman Khan, Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
Ins: Michael Neser. Outs: Colin Munro (omitted), Oli Patterson (omitted).
Fresh off his successful Ashes appearances, Michael Neser joins the Heat for their must-win clash against the Hobart Hurricanes. New Zealand international Colin Munro and emerging seamer Oli Patterson come out of the side, with the Heat to field a squad of 13 for Wednesday's match.
Club news
Hobart Hurricanes
Brisbane Heat
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Players to watch
Nathan Ellis (Hurricanes): The Hurricanes skipper was rested from Sunday's washed-out clash with the Sixers so will be primed to lead his side's attack as they seek to cement top spot with a win over the Heat. Has 12 wickets at a BBL career-best strike rate of 14.5 this season and needs just two more wickets to notch a 100 across his Big Bash career.
Michael Neser (Heat): What a summer it's been for the Brisbane Heat allrounder: 15 Ashes wickets following his call up to the Test side to help Australia clinch the urn 4-1. Now, he's set to return to the Big Bash to spearhead their late finals push having been an instrumental part of their success in recent times with 26 wickets and 141 runs in their runners-up BBL|12 finish followed by 12 scalps and a career-best 64 not out in their BBL|13 triumph, his last two full seasons in the BBL after missing parts of last season with a hamstring injury.
Top performers
Most Runs
BBL|15 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
365 |
|
2
David Warner
D Warner
|
323 |
|
3
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
305 |
|
4
Liam Scott
L Scott
|
292 |
|
5
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
287 |
|
6
Mitch Marsh
M Marsh
|
279 |
|
7
Nikhil Chaudhary
N Chaudhary
|
263 |
|
8
Aaron Hardie
A Hardie
|
254 |
Most Wickets
BBL|15 BKT Golden Arm
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Gurinder Sandhu
G Sandhu
|
18 |
|
2
Tom Curran
T Curran
|
15 |
|
3
Haris Rauf
H Rauf
|
15 |
|
4
Peter Siddle
P Siddle
|
15 |
|
5
Jack Edwards
J Edwards
|
14 |
|
6
Marcus Stoinis
M Stoinis
|
14 |
|
7
Lloyd Pope
L Pope
|
13 |
|
8
Nathan Ellis
N Ellis
|
12 |
Most sixes scored
BBL|15
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
20 |
|
2
Finn Allen
F Allen
|
18 |
|
3
Mitch Marsh
M Marsh
|
17 |
|
4
David Warner
D Warner
|
16 |
|
5
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
15 |
|
6
Nikhil Chaudhary
N Chaudhary
|
14 |
|
7
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
14 |
|
8
Ashton Turner
A Turner
|
14 |
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Hobart Hurricanes will be aiming for consecutive wins against Brisbane Heat in the BBL for the first time since January 2019 following their five-wicket victory when they last met in BBL|14.
- Brisbane Heat have lost their past seven BBL matches outside Queensland; an eighth consecutive defeat in this game would be the Heat's outright longest losing run outside their home state in the history of the competition (also lost seven from January 2014 to December 2015).
- Hobart Hurricanes have won 10 of their past 11 BBL matches at Ninja Stadium, including a 37-run victory against the Strikers last time out.
- Xavier Bartlett (Brisbane Heat) has taken 10 wickets in BBL|15; it's the fifth time he's logged double figures for the Heat in a single season – the joint-most of any player in BBL history (also Mark Steketee five times).
- Mitch Owen (Hobart Hurricanes) has scored 87 per cent of his 138 runs from boundaries in BBL|15, the best rate of any player in the competition (minimum five runs scored).
What's on the line?
The Hurricanes can clinch top spot for the second season running with victory over the Heat on Wednesday night. It will mean they host two home finals and get a double-chance as they seek to go back-to-back. Losing to the Heat however in their final game of the regular season would leave the door open for the Scorchers, Stars or Sixers to jump them into top spot.
While a loss for the Heat wouldn't be terminal for their finals chances, it would leave them relying on other results. Victory over the Hurricanes would set up a sudden-death clash with the Sixers in the final game of the BBL|15 home-and-away season.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
HUR
|
9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.398 | 0 | 13 |
|
2
STA
|
9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.031 | 0 | 12 |
|
3
SCO
|
8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.162 | 0 | 10 |
|
4
SIX
|
8 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.458 | 0 | 9 |
|
5
HEA
|
8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -0.446 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STR
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.625 | 0 | 6 |
|
7
REN
|
8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.686 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.182 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points