BBL7 - Stars v Heat Preview (Plus The 8-6 Lurker's Pick and Bank)

Melbourne Stars (0-2) v Brisbane Heat (2-2)  @ The MCG
 
Head to Head History - Brisbane Heat 5, Melbourne Stars 2
 
Last 5 - Brisbane Heat 4, Melbourne Stars 1
 
Melbourne Stars 13-Man Squad - John Hastings (c), Michael Beer, Scott Boland,   Liam Bowe, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Luke Wright, Adam Zampa
 
Brisbane Heat 13 Man Squad - Brendon McCullum (c), Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Chris Lynn, Jimmy Peirson, Alex Ross, Yasir Shah, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson

Preview - The Melbourne Stars will be looking for their first win at the third time of asking when they tackle the Heat at the MCG tonight. The Stars came into BBL7 as one of the tournament favourites, however have been well under par in losses to the Heat and Scorchers on the road. The Brisbane Heat’s form has yo-yoed with two wins and two losses as they look to find a bit of consistency in their cricket. They are on a quick back up from an embarrassing 56-run loss to the Strikers, where they were bundled out for just 91 on New Year’s Eve. 
 
Big Batting Battle - Kevin Pietersen v Chris Lynn - Two big guns who have yet to really set the BBL alight, as they have in the past, in Pietersen and Lynn. Pietersen usually bats really well at the MCG compared to some of the faster wickets, and will look to control the Stars’ innings from the Number 3 spot. Lynn will still have steam coming out of his ears after he was wrongfully dismissed for a duck in Adelaide to a terrible caught behind decision. He will likely have to confront facing spin first up a lot this season. 
 
Big Bowling Battle - Michael Beer v Yasir Shah - Both Beer and Shah are very experienced competitors who are coming off outstanding last start performances. Beer controlled the Powerplay expertly against the Scorchers, taking a miserly 1/14 from his 4 overs. Elsewhere, Shah made an immediate impact for the Brisbane Heat in his debut taking 2/18 against the Strikers. 
 
Ground Dynamic - The MCG - The MCG curator might still be on tilt after all the flak he received for the wicket of the recently completed Boxing Day Test match. However, the good news for him is he will receive no such criticism for a similar pitch in a T20 game. The MCG is shorter straight down the ground, so expect the fast bowlers to dig the ball into the pitch and try and protect the longer square boundaries. 
 
THE LURKER'S PICK (8-6) - Melbourne Stars "The Stars have stunk it up recently but this is their first game at home. They will be saluting tonight to give me 4 wins on the bounce" 
 
 The LURKER'S 10-UNIT BANK (Running Tally = - 29 Units) 
 
(Tab Odds)

3 Units on Joe Burns to score 25+ runs @ $2.10 

3 Units Stars to win by 1-20 runs or 1-4 wickets @ $5.50

2 Units Stars to hit the most 6s @ $2.25 

1 Unit high bat/bowler double for the Stars of Maxwell/Stoinis @ $25 

1 Unit high bat/bowler double for the Heat of McCullum/Shah @ $14