THE ELIMINATOR

HEAT V STRIKERS 7.15PM AEDST, FRIDAY, THE GABBA TAB ODDS

Heat $1.85 ($13 for title) Strikers $1.95 ($13 for title)

WEATHER

Partly cloudy, shower or two. Min 22C, Max 29C.

ROAD TO GLORY

Loser eliminated Winner will meet Sydney Thunder at Manuka Oval Effectively a wildcard playoff for fourth. These teams would have to win four consecutive finals to lift the trophy, and for the Strikers all four would be on the road

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Strikers defeated Heat by two runs at the Gabba on December 23

Strikers defeated Heat by 82 runs at Adelaide Oval on January 21

STAND-IN skipper

Jimmy Peirson almost pulled off a Hail Mary run chase at the Gabba, turning down three singles in the final over to keep the strike before being unable to send the last ball for six. Alex Carey’s 101 (62) in the return match left Heat coach Darren Lehmann with a headache. Who is Boof’s match-up for the super-sweeper who struck form last week against the new ball?

FIELDING FOCUS

A total of 947 runs were leaked from “Grade 1” dropped catches this season – but just 62 were attributed to Strikers, ranking them No 1 in the BBL. Dan Worrall was to blame for 48 of those after giving D’Arcy Short a lifeline in the club’s season-opener. Conversely, Heat put down 10 simple chances, costing 163 runs.

ALL EYES ON

Queenslander Matthew Renshaw walked out on Brisbane last year after Adelaide offered a three-season contract too good to refuse. But the Strikers are yet to get bang for buck, with the batsman averaging 16.5 runs with a top score of 35. Ben Laughlin, the leading wicket-taker in BBL history (110), has gone the other way, although at 38 is a fading force.

STEKETEE BASHES DOWN TEST DOOR

South Africa captain Quinton de Kock will be keen to lock eyes on Mark Steketee, 27, after his surprise call-up to the Test squad. The Brisbane right-armer’s 22 wickets are the second-most in the BBL and followed a start to the Sheffield Shield summer in which he averaged just 43.7 at a strike-rate of 106.2 deliveries. But Steketee has struck against Aaron Finch, Jordan Silk, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Hughes and Nicholas Pooran in a breakout BBL.

WATCH FOR

Heat captain Chris Lynn should shout his ring fielders a pre-game Red Bull, because the chemistry between Jake Weatherald and Carey seems to disintegrate when they run between the wickets. Mark Waugh said Tim Paine under-bowled Marnus Labuschagne against India, but expect Lynn to turn to his legspin after six wickets in three games.

THE MATCH-UP

Chris Lynn fears spin and Rashid Khan’sreplacement Liam O’Connor dismissed the Heat skipper with his only ball to him last year.

SAM LANDSBERGER’S TIP – STRIKERS

No Rashid Khan, but Strikers quicks Wes Agar, Peter Siddle and Michael Neser will rock the Gabba, .