Heat bat first in BBL clash v Hobart

Laine Clark | January 8, 2022

A Hobart Hurricanes outfit without skipper Matthew Wade have won the bat flip and a COVID-19 hit Brisbane Heat will bat first in their Big Bash League clash at the Gabba.

A depleted Brisbane are out to get their BBL campaign back on track after three losses in four games.

The third-last Heat were thrashed by five wickets by the Melbourne Renegades on Thursday, a match where they were forced to field eight debutants.

Brisbane are the BBL team most impacted by COVID-19 with 12 players confirmed as positive as well as coach Wade Seccombe, forcing them into seven days isolation. 

Just three players from the original Heat squad remain available.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Hobart will on Saturday be without Wade who will sit out the BBL indefinitely for personal reasons.

Peter Handscomb will step up as skipper with BBL leading run-scorer Ben McDermott taking over the gloves from Wade for a Hurricanes outfit that has lost their last two matches after a three-game winning streak.

Brisbane next take on Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba on Wednesday.

Hobart will face on Sydney Thunder at the MCG on Monday, starting three double-headers in Victoria to be held to make up games lost through COVID-19 outbreaks.

Only Wednesday’s postponed clash between Brisbane and the Sydney Sixers is still to be made up in the revamped schedule.

The game was postponed after 12 Heat players tested positive for COVID-19, and they were unable to make up the required 13-strong squad.

Brisbane: Jake Lehmann, Jack Clayton, Lachlan Pfeffer, Sam Heazlett, Tom Cooper (capt), Jack Wood, Steven McGiffin, Will Prestwidge, Paddy Dooley, David Grant, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. X Factors: Bryce Street, Ronan McDonald.

Hobart: Ben McDermott, Caleb Jewell, Peter Handscomb (capt), D’Arcy Short, Tim David, Tom Lammonby, Mitchell Owen, Tom Rogers, Will Sanders, Riley Meredith, Sandeep Lamichhane. X Factors: Mac Wright, Gabe Bell.