Brisbane will face Hobart in the Sunday night encounter of the Australia T20 League to find the season's first win. Hobart has lost just one game out of four, while Brisbane lost all three matches.
Match Timings: Dec 27, 1:45 PM IST
Team Preview
Brisbane can blame its luck or its own issues as they slipped at the last time to get the bottom spot in the table. After Daniel Sams's scar, Brisbane almost crossed the winning line against Adelaide, riding on Pierson’s hard-fought knock, but they fell short of two runs. The match started dramatically for Brisbane as Chris Lynn injured himself after the toss and Pierson led the side. Brisbane’s bowlers put on a fabulous bowling display and restricted Adelaide to 150. Bartlett scalped three for 24, and Steketee bagged two.
Brisbane’s batting let them down in the absence of Lynn and lost eight wickets on just 68. Peirson and Mujeeb put quick 60 runs-stand to add a twist to the game. The captain avoided taking singles on three successive deliveries and couldn’t get the six on the final ball. They lost by 2 runs, but responsibility starts from the batting end, which collapsed badly. The top-order hasn’t been impressive so far, and Chris Lynn would aim to take charge from the start. Brisbane have just one point, which was earned through Bash Boost Point. Lynn’s troops desperately require three points on Sunday to start fresh next year. Lynn and Wildermuth will be back in the playing XI, and this is the only change in the Brisbane side.
Meanwhile, Hobart’s campaign is pretty high, with three wins and two Bash Boost Points. They outplayed defending champions in the opening game, and recently, they edged past Melbourne-R to get the third win of the season. Their bowlers restricted Melbourne on 157 with a stunning tight-bowling in death-overs. Hobart didn’t struggle much in the chase, and they crossed the line with 14 balls spare, riding on McDermott’s 89 off 55 balls. Hobart got its combination better under Handscomb, and they would aim to extend this winning run against Brisbane. Colin Ingram and McDermott both are in good touch, and Hobart saw a good knock from D Arcy Short as well, who scored 72 off 48 balls against Adelaide. They also have quality in its bowling. On two occasions, they changed the game in death-overs. First, they held Sydney-S for a 16-runs defeat with tight spells in death, and in recent, Melbourne couldn’t score big despite having wickets in hand. Brisbane have to play its best game to get three points against Hobart.
PitchReport
The Gabba has good bounce, and the pacers can take early advantage of the pitch. It will be the first game of the season, and we expect a score of around 160-170 in the first innings.
Possible XI
Hobart
D Arcy Short, Will Jacks, Ben McDermott (wk), Peter Handscomb (c), Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Tim David, James Faulkner, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Riley Meredith
Brisbane
Sam Heazlett, Max Bryant, Chris Lynn (c), Daniel Lawrence, Tom Cooper, Jack Wildermuth, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Mark Steketee, Matthew Kuhnemann, Ben Laughlin/Bartlett, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Key Players
Hobart
Colin Ingram
This season so far – M: 4, Runs: 145, Avg: 36.25
James Faulkner
This season so far – M: 4, Wickets: 8, Avg: 13.50
Brisbane
Chris Lynn
Australia T20 League (last season) – M: 14, Runs: 387, SR: 148.84
This season – M: 2, Runs: 89, SR: 139.06
Jack Wildermuth
This season so far – M: 2, Wickets: 4, Avg: 12
