ABOUT THE MATCH
Melbourne Renegades, after facing defeats in their last two matches, will be desperate for a win when they take on the high-flying Brisbane Heat in this 48th fixture of the Women’s Big Bash League 2019. The match will be played on November 27 at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
Brisbane Heat-sealed their semi-final spot with a seven-run win in the last game against Hobart Hurricanes at the Bellerive Oval. Although they are already through to the knockout round, the league leaders will look to stay away from any kind of complacency and win their remaining two fixtures to boost their chances of hosting the finals.
Melbourne Renegades, after their seven-wicket defeat to Melbourne Stars, find themselves in a rather tricky situation. They have three more games to go, and in order to qualify for the semis, they must win them all and hope for the fourth-placed Sydney Sixers to lose both their remaining encounters.
TOSS PREDICTION
Three out of the four matches played at this ground this season have been won by the side batting second. And also since the pitch is likely to remain the same across the forty overs, the toss-winning team will probably want to chase here.
PITCH AND CONDITIONS
The Allan Border Field has been a low scoring venue. Four matches have been played here so far this WBBL season and no team has managed to score 150. The pitch seems to be slowing down and batting is only going to get harder.
Pleasant weather with plenty of sunshine has been forecast for Wednesday. It will be pretty warm during the match with temperature likely to hover around 28 degrees Celsius. Humidity could be between 50% and 57%.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Brisbane Heat Women
Beth Mooney (wk), Maddy Green, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Jess Jonassen, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Amelia Kerr, Delissa Kimmince, Kirby Short (c), Georgia Prestwidge, Mikayla Hinkley
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Melbourne Renegades Women
Anna Lanning, Danielle Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont, Jessica Duffin (c), Courtney Webb, Josephine Dooley (wk), Georgia Wareham, Maitlan Brown, Carly Leeson, Lea Tahuhu, Molly Strano
MATCH PREVIEW
Brisbane Heat Women
- Brisbane Heat made only change to their side in the last game against Hobart Hurricanes, dropping Lilly Mills for Mikayla Hinkley.
- The latter did not get to face a single ball while batting and her services with the ball were not required.
- Hinkley, therefore, could be retained in the playing eleven for this upcoming match against Melbourne Renegades.
- Beth Mooney and Maddy Green will continue to open the batting while Sammy-Jo Johnson will be leading the bowling attack once again.
- Brisbane Heat is exhibiting a red-hot form at the moment. They have won nine and lost only three of the twelve matches they have played so far in this year’s WBBL and are topping the points table with 18 points.
- Since losing three of their first five matches, the Heat have not looked behind and they are now on an incredible winning streak having won their last seven matches on the bounce.
- Their previous encounter was against Hobart Hurricanes at the Bellerive Oval where they secured a seven-run victory.
Melbourne Renegades Women
- Melbourne Renegades picked Anna Lanning in their seven-wicket loss to Melbourne Stars last time out.
- The opening batter was brought into the side as a replacement for all-rounder Sophie Molineux who withdrew herself from the squad midway through the tournament citing mental health issues.
- Skipper Jessica Duffin made a notable contribution with the bat after promoting herself ahead of wicketkeeper Josephine Dooley and she is likely to bat at number four again.
- Danielle Wyatt will open the batting alongside Lanning and could be made to bowl in the powerplay again.
- Melbourne Renegades currently find themselves in the bottom half of the WBBL 2019 leaderboard – at the fifth place with five wins and six losses from eleven matches.
- Their campaign got off to an ordinary start, losing four of their first six fixtures before they bounced back in the competition with wins in their next three matches.
- The Renegades, however, have lost all the momentum they had gained after suffering defeats in their last two matches against Brisbane Heat by six runs and against Melbourne Stars by seven wickets.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
The Renegades do have sufficient quality in both batting and bowling departments but they will need to click together as a unit to topple the Heat at home. Kirby Short’s Heat emerged victors in the reverse encounter at Melbourne and we expect them to prevail again.
Click here for Fantasy picks.
