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The BBL heads back to Optus Stadium on Saturday night in the second game of a double-header as the Scorchers take on the Heat. It’s a massive game for the 6th placed Scorchers as they look for a spot in the finals. Meanwhile, the Heat are now 3rd on the ladder after a couple of close wins in a row and have started to live up to their highly preseason expectations.

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In the last 11 games at Optus Stadium, it’s proven to be a favourable batting wicket as it ranks 4th in the BBL for batting points scored. While for overall points, it ranks 5th and sits just behind Marvel/Canberra by 2 points. Both sides rank inside the top 4 for most points allowed this season so this figures to be a high scoring fantasy game. The one stat of note is that the Scorchers rank first for batsman points allowed so it could be a good option to stack the Heat’s top order batters. Although, they can lose wickets quickly as was the case against the Scorchers in the first meeting of the season on the Gold Coast.

In team news, the Scorchers will be without Agar and Turner as they head to India for the ODI tour. Liam Guthrie will come into the squad and it’ll be interesting to see who replaces Agar. You’d figure Green and David should get more batting time in the middle order, making them good cheap plays. At the top of the Scorchers batting order, Livingstone and Inglis have formed a good partnership now. The pair both recorded half-centuries in the Scorchers win over the ‘Gades. So Livingstone will be looking for a big knock at Optus Stadium, a venue he’s struggled at thus far. Cam Bancroft continues to be a bit hit or miss. But the form of Mitch Marsh is hard to look past. He’s in great touch with the bat and hopefully, we’ll see him bowling more often. Bowling wise, Jordan has struggled for points in his last 2 games which should see him at low ownership. However, he’s scored well at Optus Stadium this season. Richardson continues to take wickets and that should be getting the Aussie selectors action. Kelly is a worry with the ball as he struggles with economy rate and hasn’t been taking wickets. Ahmed could be a sneaky play considering he took 3 wickets against the Heat last time out.

Brisbane survived a close call with the Hurricanes at the Gabba on Thursday night. Their bowling lineup outside of Swepson all took wickets in a great sign for this Heat team that’s mostly known for their batting. Lalor was the pick of the bowlers with 3 scalps and veteran experience of Laughlin continued as he took 2 wickets. They’ll now add the pace of James Pattinson and they may see Swepson out of favour after a wicketless night. Bryant comes off another good outing with the bat after 28 against the ‘Canes and Banton added 17. However, the Heat went from 0-34 to 5-71 in the space of 6 overs. So they can be hit or miss in the middle order. The main problem is they’re batting Renshaw and Burns out of position in the middle order. But luckily, Cutting offers a good late order hitting option. He belted 3 sixes in Thursday’s victory and totalled 122 fantasy points. With his dual position ability, he should be a popular play on Friday.

It should be perfect conditions for Cricket at Optus Stadium with a high of 36 during the day and no signs of any clouds. Interestingly, the Scorchers will be underdogs on their home turf and should be confident considering they beat the Heat by 40 runs in the earlier meeting this season. 

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Batsmen

Love it – Tim David ($10,400 Draftstars)

Showed his big-hitting ability with 2 massive sixes against the Renegades in Geelong and should be a nice cheap bat this Saturday. The other benefit is the fact that Turner / Agar aren’t playing and that opens up batting opportunities in the Scorchers middle order. So if Perth needs quick runs or lose early wickets, David could get pushed up the order at any time.

Don’t Love It? – Chris Lynn ($18,900 Draftstars)

The difficult part about Lynn is his consistency and he always comes with high ownership mainly because of his ceiling. So fading him can pay off if he doesn’t get going. He also struggled against the Scorchers with 14 off 21 balls at Metricon on New Years Day. 

Who Knows? – Liam Livingstone ($17,900 Draftstars)

The Englishman comes off a nice 59 off 39 against the Renegades but he has struggled at Optus Stadium. In 3 games in Perth, he’s scored just 44 runs and will face a likely tough matchup against Pattinson in the powerplay overs. But if he gets his eye in, he can potentially score over 100 points.

Bowlers

Love it – Jhye Richardson ($18,100 Draftstars)

Richardson is bowling very nicely at the moment and he’s hitting a nice floor of 48 in his last 5 games. He comes off 3 wickets against the Renegades in Geelong and the Heat offer up a good matchup since they can lose wickets in succession.

Don’t Love it – Matthew Kelly ($13,900 Draftstars)

Kelly is the major weakness in this Scorchers bowling lineup as opposition teams look to target him after facing the likes of Richardson. His economy rate has finished above 10 in 3 of his last 5 games and he’s returned scores of -1 and 3 in his last 2 alone.

Who Knows? – James Pattinson ($16,600 Draftstars)

Patto is back from Test duties and flew to Perth a day earlier compared to his Heat team-mates. In his 5 BBL games last season, he finished with a nice economy rate of 6.76 and picked up 4 wickets in 17 overs. The Scorchers batting lineup hasn’t been overly impressive at home this season so Pattinson can potentially pick up a few wickets to hit value.