A spot in the finals is on the line as the Heat host the Sixers in the final game of the BBL|15 regular season
Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers: match preview
Match facts
Who: Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers
What: Match 40, KFC BBL|15
Where: The Gabba, Brisbane
When: Sunday, January 18. 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
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 for this match are sold out
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps
Officials: Ben Treloar and Gerard Abood (field), Steve Dionysius (third), Riki Wessels (fourth), David Gilbert (match referee)
Match squads
Brisbane Heat: Tom Balkin, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Zaman Khan, Usman Khawaja (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Michael Neser, Oli Patterson, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth
Ins: Oli Patterson. Outs: -
Young seamer Oli Patterson has been added to the Heat's squad as a place in the top-four hangs in the balance. The Heat now field a squad of 14 players for Sunday's gripping contest, with Test stars Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser all set to take part at the Gabba.
Sydney Sixers: Sean Abbott, Babar Azam, Sam Curran, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Moises Henriques (c), Hayden Kerr, Ben Manenti, Josh Philippe, Lachlan Shaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
Unchanged
The Sixers are sticking with a winning formula, naming an unchanged for Sunday's must-win match against the Brisbane Heat. Ashes hero Mitchell Starc and recent BBL centurion Steve Smith will again feature in magenta in the push for a Sixers finals berth.
Club news
Brisbane Heat
Sydney Sixers
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Players to watch
Zaman Khan (Heat): Closed out the game spectacularly for the Heat to beat the Hurricanes and keep their season alive. Though he's only taken one wicket in his two games this season, he's proved tough to get away. Will his unique bowling action also prove a challenge for the Sixers' star-studded batting line-up in this do-or-die contest?
Steve Smith (Sixers): The Australian superstar now has four centuries in his past 12 BBL knocks, the most of any men's player in BBL history. Smith has been one of the competition's most consistent performers during his limited opportunities in the past four seasons and must be as close as ever to returning to Australia's T20 side for the first time since 2024. He is striking at 205 for his 119 runs in BBL|15, with the Gabba one of the fastest scoring grounds in the country.
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
- Sydney Sixers have won their past two matches against Brisbane Heat, which is as many wins as they'd recorded in their previous five completed matches against them. The Sixers also won the most recent encounter between the two sides at the Gabba, an eight-wicket win in BBL|14.
- The Sixers have won 11 of all their 13 meetings against the Heat in Queensland.
- Brisbane Heat have won all four of their matches in Queensland in BBL|15; a fifth consecutive win in this game would be the Heat’s outright longest winning run in their home state from the start of a campaign in the history of the competition (also won four in BBL|13).
- The Sixers have won their past four BBL matches; the last time they recorded a longer winning run was a six-match span in January 2023.
- Matthew Renshaw (Brisbane Heat) has scored 218 runs at the Gabba in BBL|15; it’s the third most of any player in a single season at the Gabba in BBL history after Chris Lynn (245 in BBL|05) and Brendon McCullum (227 in BBL|06).
- Ben Manenti (Sydney Sixers) has bowled 60 deliveries in this BBL|15 season, the most of any player yet to be hit for a six in the campaign.
- Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques (98) is two away from registering 100 sixes in the BBL.
What's on the line?
It's a virtual elimination, with whoever wins this game to play finals in BBL|15, while the loser will be left to rue what could have been for another 12 months. A Sixers victory would also see them finish in the top two and secure a double chance in finals.
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