BRISBANE HEAT v SYDNEY THUNDER: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews the Big Bash clash on Sunday with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

The Big Bash returns from a little break on Sunday morning at the Gabba as the Brisbane Heat take on the Sydney Thunder! While most of the cricketing eyes in Australia have focused on The Ashes over the last few days, that series seems so one sided at the moment the Big Bash might grab the headlines again! The Big Bash has produced some very interesting games so far, and very good games for trading on BETDAQ Betting Exchange, but there’s no getting away from the fact that the crowds are down this year and that’s definitely something the league has to worry about.

Only two sides have played four games in the Big Bash this season and the rest have played three, so it’s very early days. Both of these sides are towards the bottom of the table however and they’ll be wanting to change that as quickly as possible. Brisbane Heat are probably used to being towards the bottom by now, but Sydney Thunder have lost two from three games and they won’t be happy with that. The Heat would have been delighted to win their last game, but that came against the Melbourne Renegades who have been a very bad side recently – I wouldn’t read too much into that – Melbourne Renegades sit last in the table too.

I’ve said this before, but I’m not a fan of the sides playing each other so close together. It takes away from it being a league. You don’t see Manchester United and Manchester City play home and away within a few days. Sydney Thunder lost both times to Melbourne Stars within two days, while these sides have actually already played on the 6th of December. Sydney Thunder won easily too, chasing down 140/8 with 17 balls to spare.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

We had the 1st Ashes Test at the Gabba, so this is the first Big Bash game of the season here. Australia kept their excellent record in that game, but we’re likely to see a different wicket here. I wouldn’t read too much into the Test, but it did look good for batting. The scores have been coming down here in recent years in T20 cricket, and again I would expect that to be a trend this season. The average score last season was 153, with the highest score actually coming from Sydney Thunder who scores 174/8. The lowest score was 130/7, and chasing seemed to offer a slight edge. It will be interesting to see if that stays the same this season.

RECOMMENDED BET:

The Thunder were very professional when they beat the Heat earlier in the season, and I felt they could improve from that game too as the openers failed. Their middle order looks very strong and they have been reasonably consistent although came up short twice against Melbourne Stars. They were blown away in the second Melbourne Stars game, but they should have won the first meeting really. Melbourne Stars play at a much better level than Brisbane Heat however, and the Thunder have the bowling to control the game here. The 1.8 is worth backing as I felt they would be closer to 1.7.

The Edge Says:
Two points win Sydney Thunder to beat Brisbane Heat at 1.8 with BETDAQ Exchange.

View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQBriSyd

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

As this is the first game of the season, I’m going into the game with an open mind. Chasing seemed to offer a slight edge here last season, but as I said above the wicket has been chasing over recent years. This used to be a very high scoring ground but the scores have been coming down. It might be a good lay to take on the team batting first when they are facing the new ball, but I would keep stakes low in general for this game. The Thunder middle order look worth supporting, and they have been in pretty good form too – those games against Melbourne Stars were good and competitive games. Andre Russell blew them away of course, but take his innings out and it could have been close. The middle order should do well here against the Heat bowling.