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First of all, along with our famous  FREE Cheat Sheets and Data Tools in our Data Tools section, new for the BBL09 season, Daily Fantasy Rankings presents the Draftstars Lineup Builder! Using our Data Tools and Projections you will be able to quickly build and import BBL teams into Draftstars by using the CSV upload. Access the Builder including tutorials on how the builder works by clicking the banner below.

Draftstars have posted a $15,000 contest for a $15 entry, as well as a $1,500 Mini and even a $200 Single Entry contest for a $10 buy-in. Moneyball are offering a $4,000 contest for a $15 entry as well as a $500 guarantee on their $2 contest.

Not much has changed at the MCG this season in terms of poor fantasy points production as the venue still ranks dead last in the league for overall points against. It’s slightly better for batting as teams can generally bat through the 20 overs without losing many wickets. But with the longer boundaries, it’s a tough place to clear the ropes. With the Stars sitting comfortably atop the BBL table, they’re also a very hard side to score points against. As such, they rank as the best team against batsman and bowlers in points allowed. Meanwhile, the Heat’s batting woes sees them rank 1st in the Big Bash for bowling points allowed. So selecting which Stars bowlers are going to take the wickets will be a key lineup strategy.

While the Stars have lost a few games recently, their position atop the BBL table is a major reason why. But I think they’ll bounce back well against this out of form Heat team. They’ll get Nathan Coulter-Nile back from a rest and they’ve also found another sneaky bowler from Pakistan in Dilbar Hussain. If he bowls anything like Rauf, the Heat will be in trouble. With Cartwright out with injury again, Maddinson should continue to open with Stoinis and it’ll be interesting to see if Maddo can break out of his form slump. Larkin looks to be the number 3 batting option and has shown good potential with his strike rate this season. Maxwell is always a solid pick with his ability to bowl a few overs and his obvious skills with the bat. His run scoring potential does depend on the coin toss because the Stars love chasing and the Heat could put up an under par total, which would hurt Maxwell’s value. Handscomb is generally a good unique pick in the middle order after scoring 65 off 39 against the Strikers. In the bowling department, Adam Zampa loves bowling at the MCG and could be very dangerous against the Heat. The same can be said for Hinchliffe after taking 7 wickets in his last few games.

What can we say about the Brisbane Heat after another disappointing effort at the Gabba on Thursday night. Well, they basically need to show something on Saturday night or it’s probably season over. On paper, they’re batting lineup is easily the best in the Big Bash but they just seem to love a batting collapse. Lynn is always hit or miss with the way he plays, which is the main problem at the moment. They really need him to score 50+ for any chance of posting a decent total. Heazlett is a good cheap option in this lineup while he continues to open. In the middle order, AB de Villiers batting style should suit the MCG conditions. Labuschagne is not really a T20 batsman so he’s a pretty easy fade for mine. It was good to see Pattinson score some runs and that just adds to his value if he can take a few wickets. The bowlers obviously couldn’t defend 127 at the Gabba against the Sixers and they’ll face another tough matchup against the likes of Stoinis / Maxwell. Generally spinners do bowl well at the MCG so you could consider Swepson or Mujeeb. However, both haven’t been great wicket takers in BBL09. Pattinson and Laughlin are generally the safe bets in the wicket taking stakes for Brisbane and that shouldn’t change on Saturday.

The Stars will start as clear favourites on Saturday at their home ground and they did beat the Heat on the Gold Coast this season by 22 runs. Maxwell lead the way with a brilliant 83 off 39 balls in the Stars 167 total. Tom Banton got the chase off to a great start with 64 off 36. But the story of the season for the Heat is middle order collapses and that was the case in this one as they totalled just 145/8 in their 20 overs.

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Batsmen

Love it – Clint Hinchliffe ($11,400 Draftstars)

Has been a great pick over the last couple Stars games with scores of 118,66,10 and 104. With the Heat giving up plenty of points to bowlers, Hinchliffe’s BAT positioning is a nice bonus if you’re looking for an extra bowler. With 7 wickets in his last 12 overs, he’s likely a safe bet of at least 1 wicket in this matchup.

Don’t Love It? – Chris Lynn ($17,800 Draftstars)

When Lynn gets going, it’s one of the best spectacles of the Big Bash. However, predicting when that’s going to happen is the major problem with the Heat skipper. With a lowish ceiling of 67.5 points in his last 7 BBL games and the fact he doesn’t bowl makes him an expensive play at 17.8k. Also made a duck in his last game against the Stars at the MCG.

Who Knows? – Marcus Stoinis ($21,000 Draftstars)

Generally, the big Stoin is a great play at his favourite BBL venue in the MCG. However, we do have to consider that he’s struggled with consistency of late. He obviously loves playing the Sixers with 111 and 266.5 pts in recent games. But he’s also returned just 5 and 8 points against the Strikers/Scorchers. Since he’s not bowling at the moment, you really have to bank on a half century for him to hit value.

Bowlers

Love it – Adam Zampa ($15,200 Draftstars)

Absolutely loves bowling at the MCG and that shouldn’t change against the Heat. Has taken 6 wickets in his last 4 games here and has also scored 72 economy rate bonus points in the last 3 games alone. Should be at a fairly low ownership after struggling against the Strikers in his first game back from India. But the venue alone gets the tick here. 

Don’t Love it – Ben Cutting ($17,500 Draftstars)

With better dual position options in Maxwell or Stoinis, the inconsistent Cutting is a fade for mine. He bats a bit too low in the Heat lineup and has struggled with his strike rate lately (under 100 in 2 of his last 3 innings). To make matters worse, he bowled just 1 over against the Sixers and the return of Labuschagne/Swepson likely makes it hard for him to get all 4 overs in. Especially since the Stars are likely going to bat second.

Who Knows? – Dilbar Hussain ($12,800 Draftstars)

Has been selected as Haris Rauf’s replacement and we’ll have to see if he does crack the starting 11 at the coin toss. Described as a strong fast bowler with a very deceptive change of pace means he could be a very sneaky bowling pick at just under 13k. Especially considering the Heat lose quick wickets and the unknown factor of Hussain could mean a few wickets.