Brisbane Heat will look to end their winless start to the 2018/19 Big Bash League when they host Sydney Sixers at the Metricon Stadium.

The match is scheduled for January 1 and the live action begins at 09:30 IST.

Bat Flip Prediction

With the Metricon Stadium favouring bowlers so far, it is likely the team winning the toss will want to bowl first.

Brisbane Heat Team News & Playing 11

Brisbane Heat have not played since December 22, where the only change from the opening game saw Josh Lalor replace James Pattinson in the starting line-up.

Pattinson is back, however, after missing out due to personal reasons and replaces Mark Steketee in the squad, while batsman Alex Ross has been called up in place of Matthew Kuhnemann – the latter having not featured so far.

Brisbane Heat Key Players

Despite losing both games so far, Brisbane Heat have lots of T20 experience in their line-up – not least opening batsman Brendon McCullum. McCullum has been across the world playing franchise tournaments this season and hit the 51st T20 half-century of his career in the Afghanistan Premier League before also impressing in the T10 League.

Captain Chris Lynn was in the Australia squad for matches against India and South Africa in the shortest format, meanwhile, and will hope to kick on after scores of 33 and 29 in the two matches so far.

James Pattinson’s return is a big boost with the ball – he claimed 2-23 from his four overs in the opening game – while Mujeeb Ur Rahman leads the spin-bowling unit on the back of his success in the Afghanistan Premier League. He claimed 2-23 in the defeat to Hobart Hurricanes last time out, and also set a new BBL record with the bat in the first game – scoring 27 at number 11.

Brisbane Heat Team Form

Brisbane Heat finished second bottom last season, after four wins and six defeats from their ten matches, and they have lost both of their opening fixtures so far too. In the opening game of this year’s Big Bash League, they recovered from 101/9 to finish on 146 all out thanks to Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s 27 at number 11, but it was still not enough against Adelaide Strikers. The Strikers reached their target with five wickets and five balls to spare.

Next up, against Hobart Hurricanes, they were dismissed for 144 despite Ben Cutting’s 58 from 32 balls – including five sixes – in reply to the Hurricanes’ 159/6 in a game reduced to 19 overs.

Brisbane Heat Predicted Playing 11

• Brendon McCullum, Max Bryant, Chris Lynn, Joe Burns, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Jimmy Peirson, James Pattinson, Josh Lalor, Mitchell Swepson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Sydney Sixers Team News & Playing 11

Ben Manenti made his T20 debut in the win against Melbourne Renegades and claimed the man-of-the-match award after taking 2-13 from his four overs with his off-spin.

The 21-year-old is likely to retain his place in the squad, with the only change to the 13 being Greg West replacing Lloyd Pope. The starting XI could be unchanged.

Sydney Sixers Key Players

Jordan Silk has top-scored in three of the Sydney Sixers’ four matches so far, scoring 67* against Perth Scorchers, 41* against Melbourne Stars and 30 against Melbourne Renegades. His only failure came in the derby defeat to Sydney Thunder.

Daniel Hughes partnered him with 62 in the first game, to lead the Sixers to victory, while they are awaiting Joe Denly’s best form after the opening batsman earned an England recall in the shortest format in October. Captain Moises Henriques is also yet to show his best form, bit can be explosive on his day.

The bowlers have starred so far instead, with Tom Curran claiming 3-18 last time out (and hitting 23* with the bat) after also taking 3-24 and scoring 62 against Sydney Thunder. The England all-rounder has been backed by an attack that includes Steve O’Keefe – who has nine wickets from four games – and Sean Abbott, who took 2-16 last time out and now has six for the tournament. Ben Manenti, on his debut, was man of the match with 2-13 from four overs.

Sydney Sixers Team Form

Sydney Sixers started the Big Bash League with a win, which owed much to Jordan Silk (67*) and Daniel Hughes (62) putting on 124 for the fourth-wicket as they beat Perth Scorchers by 17 runs.

The derby with Sydney Thunder followed, but Tom Curran’s all-round performance – 3-24 with the ball and 62 from 40 balls with the bat – was not enough as they lost by 21 runs.

Another defeat followed – a five-wicket loss to Melbourne Stars after posting 130/9. The Stars had 31 balls to spare as they stormed to victory at the SCG. Sydney bounced back again, however, in a low-scoring win against Melbourne Renegades. Jordan Silk scored 30 in a total of 132/7, before the bowlers impressed. Tom Curran’s 3-18 led the way, while Ben Manenti was man of the match for his debut 2-13 as the Renegades finished 33 runs short on 99/9.

Sydney Sixers Predicted Playing 11

• Jake Edwards, Joe Denly, Moises Henriques, Dan Hughes, Jordan Silk, Josh Philippe, Tom Curran, Sean Abbott, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Dwarshuis, Ben Manenti

Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Sixers Head to Head

Brisbane Heat have only won one of their eight previous matches against Sydney Sixers, losing six and tying another – which Sydney Sixers won in a super over.

Last year’s match at the SCG was a low-scoring one, with Brisbane Heat dismissed for 73 from 16.4 overs thanks to Sean Abbott’s 4-11 from four overs. In reply, Daniel Hughes hit 37 from 28 balls as the Sixers stormed to a nine-wicket win with ten overs to spare.