Brisbane Heat vs Adelaide Strikers, 23rd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Big Bash League, 2015-16 Venue: The Gabba, Brisbane Date & Time: Jan 08, 06:40 PM LOCAL

Strikers would like to notch up another win to go top of the table © Cricbuzz

Adelaide Strikers are riding high as they are second on the table and a win today will take them past Perth. The key to their success has been the combined efforts of the players. Travis Head, Brad Hodge and Alex Ross have been among the runs, while Adil Rashid has been their strike weapon.

Meanwhile, Brisbane are struggling and that is because only man is performing for them, Chris Lynn. He is the highest run-getter this season and most of the times has been their saviour. The likes of Lendl Simmons, Jimmy Peirson and Nathat Reardon have found it difficult to get going. Will it be their day today?

Brisbane (Playing XI): Jimmy Peirson(w), Lendl Simmons, Chris Lynn(c), Sam Heazlett, Nathan Reardon, Jason Floros, Ben Cutting, James Hopes, Josh Lalor, Andrew Fekete, Samuel Badree

Adelaide Strikers (Playing XI): Tim Ludeman(w), Mahela Jayawardene, Travis Head, Brad Hodge(c), Alex Ross, Jake Lehmann, Michael Neser, Adil Rashid, Ben Laughlin, Jon Holland, Billy Stanlake

Ben Cutting and Reardon kept the scorecard ticking by twinning quick singles and twos with the odd aggressive shot. On the other hand, Adelaide Strikers' boundary riders made some good saves. In fact, Strikers' ground fielding has been exemplary in this game.

, Brisbane vs Adelaide Strikers, Match 23: Adelaide Strikers won the toss and choose to field

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In an attempt to steal a single, the seasoned campaigner, Mahela Jayawardene, pulled up a muscle. Straightaway he called for the phyiso. He might have suffered a mild hamstring tear. However, Strikers will have a sigh of relief as he is ready to face again.

Despite being let down by a hamstring problem, Jayawardene continued to pierce gaps in the field with utmost ease and composed a handy fifty. He danced down the track to loft spinners down the ground and used the crease to pull the pacers. However, for a period of time, Badree and Cutting clamped down on the scoring rate to some extent. It resulted in Badree prising out Jayawardene. Badree has mixed his leg-breaks with the googly well. A huge wicket to take for the hosts as the Sri Lankan legend looked set to take Strikers to victory.

For Brisbane to emerge victorious in this keenly contested match, they needed to put up a fine effort in the field. However, in what is a vital game for them, their fielding has been a let down. Badree tempted Head to go up and over the cover-region. However, he sliced it to the point fielder, who tried to snaffle the catch with both hands, but it popped out. Remember, Head has been in splendid touch in this tournament. So, it can prove to be a costly miss.

Travis Head, Ludeman and Jayawardene composed fifties to guide Adelaide Strikers to this fifth win in BBL05. Now, they are placed at the top slot in the points table. On the other hand, Brisbane Heat continue to languish at the bottom of the table. If Jayawardene and Ludeman gave the visitors a rollicking start, then Head smacked the opposition ranks to all parts of the ground in the slog overs.

Heat did not help their cause by putting up a modest effort in the field. Head was dropped a couple of times in the deep and he made them pay for it. Earlier, on the back of Peirson's fifty, Heat ended up with a good score on the board. However, on a placid track, Strikers were able to chase down the target with relative ease.