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Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder Predictions - Renshaw to raise Heat into playoff spots

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 09 Jan 2026

Simon Lewis 09 Jan 2026

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Matt Renshaw (245 runs, S/R 157.05) is 3rd on the Big Bash run list.
David Warner has scored 130* and 67* in his last two innings.
Can the Heat beat the Thunder for the fifth time in six matches?

Matt Renshaw hits out against the Strikers (Getty Images).

Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder Predictions

The Thunder are bottom of the table after losing six of their seven matches. The Heat are one spot above them but have won three of their seven matches.

Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder Predictions
Head-to-Head
Brisbane Heat Form
Sydney Thunder Form
Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder Team News

Brisbane Heat’s Matt Renshaw has scored 102, 43, 33 & 41 in his last 6 innings.
Brisbane Heat’s Jack Wildermuth has scored 176 (ave 29.33) at a strike-rate of 157.14.
Sydney Thunder’s David Warner (241 runs, ave 60.25) is 4th in the Big Bash runs list.
Sydney Thunder’s Matthew Gilkes has scored 20, 76, 24, 33 & 43 in his last 5 innings.

Head-to-Head

The Heat have won four and lost one of their last five Big Bash matches against the Thunder.

Brisbane Heat Form

After winning three of their first six matches, the Heat lost their seventh game to the Sixers by three wickets.

Matt Renshaw has been their best batter and is 2nd on the Big Bash runs list, scoring 245 runs at a strike-rate of 157.05. He is also the Heat’s most economical bowler (econ 6.69), although he has only sent down seven overs. Max Bryant has been a solid contributor, scoring 28*, 25, 63 and 48* in his seven innings. Colin Munro hasn’t scored above 18 since his opening innings of 55 and is due a score.

Xavier Bartlett and Jack Wildermuth are joint 12th on the wickets list with nine wickets, but both average over 25 runs per wicket at an economy rate over 9.00. Matthew Kuhnemann has taken six wickets at 7.65 runs per over, including 2/14 (econ 3.50) in a tough battle against the Sixers.

Sydney Thunder Form

The Thunder slipped to their fourth defeat in a row when they lost to the Strikers by six runs.

David Warner started slow with three single figure scores before cranking it up with scores of 25, 130* and 67*. He is now looking a little like the deadly David of old. Matthew Gilkes has been a strong support at the top of the order, scoring 208 runs at a strike rate of 166.40.

Thunder leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was left out of the side to play the Hurricanes, but he bounced back against the Strikers to send his four overs down for just 19 runs. He has only taken one wicket in his six matches this season, but he is his side’s most economical bowler (18 overs, econ 8.00).

Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder Team News

The Heat have received a significant pre-finals boost with the return of Marnus Labuschagne and recently retired Test batter Usman Khawaja. Khawaja will immediately take over the captaincy from stand-in Nathan McSweeney. Additionally, Pakistan fast bowler Zaman Khan has joined the squad as an International Replacement Player, covering for the injured Shaheen Shah Afridi. Liam Haskett, Jack Wood, and Lachlan Hearne have been omitted from the side.

The Thunder will keep the same squad, as they don’t have any players who were on Ashes Test match duty.

Brisbane Heat (squad): Tom Balkin, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Zaman Khan, Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro, Oli Patterson, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Hugh Weibgen, Jack Wildermuth.

Sydney Thunder (squad): Wes Agar, Tom Andrews, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings, Chris Green, Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hadley, Sam Konstas, Nic Maddinson, Nathan McAndrew, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner (c), David Willey.

Verdict

Brisbane Heat v Sydney Thunder

I am backing Brisbane Heat to win, with Matt Renshaw to top score.

Brisbane Heat Win

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