SCO vs BRH BBL Final Prediction 02 Feb 2023

After close to 2 months of action and over 50 games played between 8 franchises, it has come down to two teams. The Perth Scorchers and the Brisbane Heat will compete in the final of the 12th edition of the Big Bash League. The match will be played at the home of the Scorchers – the Optus Stadium in Perth, which adds another layer of intrigue ahead of the final.

• After the group stage, Perth Scorchers finished top of the pile with 22 points under their belt, while the Heat finished 5th, with 13 points.
• The Scorchers brushed aside the Sydney Sixers in the Playoff round to directly enter the final.
• The Heat, on the other hand, took a longer route, winning three playoff games on the bounce, against the Thunder, Renegades and the Sixers to get into the final.

SCO vs BRH – BBL – Venue Details

Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth, Western Australia

Date: 4th February 2023

Time: 16:30 (local), 19:30 (AEDT), 14:00 (IST)

SCO vs BRH – BBL – Team Previews

Perth Scorchers

The Scorchers are widely considered the best franchise in the Big Bash and have continued their incredible consistency, entering a record 8th final in 12 editions of the competition. They started the season in emphatic fashion, winning 5 of their first 6 games. Their dream run continued as they picked up 11 wins out of 14, hardly breaking a sweat.

They are coming into the final after thumping Sydney Sixers in the playoff round. Playing at home, they restricted the Sixers to 151/8 in the first innings. David Payne took three wickets for 33 runs, while left-arm pacer Jason Behrendoff took two. In reply, the Perth side cruised to the target, courtesy of half-centuries from opener Cameron Bancroft (53 off 45) and skipper Ashton Turner (84 off 47).

The big advantage for the Scorchers going into the final is that they are playing at home, where their record is almost perfect. At the Optus this season, they have lost just one game in seven, while the record extends to 12 in the last 13.

Their skipper Ashton Turner will once again be the key for the side. His record in the last two BBL finals games is good, scoring 138 runs. The two fast bowlers Behrendoff and Andrew Tye, the second-highest wicket-taker, will shoulder the bowling responsibilities.

Lance Morris has joined the Australian test side for the India series and they will have to replace him with Matthew Kelly or the leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou.

Brisbane Heat

If the Brisbane Heat manage to win this, it might be one of the greatest heists in BBL history. They had a torrid start to the season, winning just one of their first five games and just 5 points from 9 games. But with the introduction of test stars Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja and Matthew Renshaw turned their season around.

They ended up finishing 5th and won three consecutive playoff games to reach the final. They beat the Sydney Sixers in their last game by 4 wickets to enter the final. They restricted the Sixers to just 116 in the first innings, with Spencer Johnson and Matthew Kuhnemann starring with 3 wickets apiece. In a tough chase, Michael Neser kept his cool and guided his team to victory, scoring 48 runs.

All the talk going into the final has been about the Heat’s new tearaway quick Spencer Johnson, who is being touted as the find of the BBL this season. Heat have lost just two games in which he has featured and he bowls 11 dot balls on average in an innings.

Heat have been hamstrung by a host of departures, with 3 of their top four missing. Labuschagne, Khawaja and Renshaw, who played a crucial role in the season, have departed for national duty, while they have also lost leg-spinner Swepson. This was evident in their win over the Sixers, where they struggled to reach a modest target of 117.

SCO vs BRH – BBL – Probable playing XI

Perth Scorchers: Cameron Bancroft, Stephen Eskinazi, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (wk), Ashton Turner (c), Nick Hobson, Cooper Connolly, Andrew Tye, David Payne, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Hatzoglou

Brisbane Heat: Sam Heazlett, Josh Brown, Nathan McSweeney, Sam Hain, Jimmy Peirson (c, wk), Max Bryant, James Bazley, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann

SCO vs BRH – BBL – Toss Prediction and Pitch report

The Optus Stadium in Perth has generally produced an even contest between bat and ball but has also produced some flat wickets on occasion. 5 of the last 6 games at this venue have been won by the team bowling first but considering this is a final, anything can happen. The average first innings score is around the 170 mark.

SCO vs BRH – BBL – Match Prediction

Everything points to a fifth BBL title for the Scorchers. They have the home advantage, an in-form batting unit and a quality fast-bowling attack. They have beaten the Heat on both occasions they have met this season but the last time these two sides met in a final was in BBL 2 where the Brisbane team triumphed at the WACA. The Heat are no pushovers but the big-game experience of the Perth side could prevail.