Brisbane Heat will take on the Adelaide Strikers in Match 13 of the ongoing 2025/26 Big Bash League at The Gabba on 27th December 2025. 

Neither side has found consistency early in the campaign, and currently sit in the bottom half of the table. Brisbane Heat have come up short either side of their recordbreaking chase against the Perth Scorchers while the Adelaide Strikers opened their campaign with a win before getting humbled by the Melbourne Stars last time out.

Here, we present our preview and predictions for Match 13 between the Heat and the Strikers.

BBL|15 Match 13: Heat vs Strikers | 13:45 IST, December 27, 2025

Brisbane Heat have had a mixed season so far, recording one win and suffering two defeats, which has pushed them down to seventh place on the table. Thus they need to regroup and bounce back to get their campaign back on track. 

This team has enough quality on paper to push for a title, however, their batting has only clicked once in three games while their bowling has bled runs in all three games. The top order of Colin Munro, Jack Wildermuth and Matt Renshaw has been in excellent touch so far but their middle order is yet to contribute meaningfully. 

Hugh Wiegben and Max Bryant have shown flashes but haven’t been able to finish the job for their franchise. Similarly, the bowling department has lacked clinical edge in most departments. Jack Wildermuth has been the most successful, claiming six wickets in three matches while Xavier Bartlett and Matthew Kuhnemann have taken five wickets between them, but the rest of the bowling unit has lacked consistency, leading to uneven performances overall.

Adelaide Strikers on the other hand have made a reasonable start, occupying sixth spot after winning one and losing one match. With still six teams log-jammed at two points from third to eight, a couple of victories in their upcoming fixtures will do them a world of good in their bid to reach the top four. 

Opener and captain Matthew Short has been their batting anchor, scoring 71 runs across two knocks at a strike rate of 134. He’s been in excellent form this year but will need the rest of the top-order to start contributing soon. 

Both Liam Scott and Jamie Overton have provided solid support in the middle to lower order department, however, lack of contribution from the other batters saw them nearly bottle the first game against the Sydney Sixers before the Melbourne Stars humbled them in Match 10. 

Star with the ball in their first game, Luke Wood was dropped from the playing XI, leaving the bulk of the heavy lifting on Lloyd Pope and Jamie Overton’s shoulders. However, despite losing the match, the Strikers should be satisfied with Pakistani seamer Hasan Ali’s progress, as he took two for 25 in his three overs. 

In terms of weather forecast and pitch report, conditions are expected to be considerably cloudy on match day, with rain and drizzle in the morning, followed by a shower in spots in the afternoon. As a result, the first few overs under lights at The Gabba can challenge batters as the pitch offers bounce and carry that makes clean hitting for boundaries harder initially. Interestingly, each of the last six BBL games played at the Gabba has been won by the chasing side, indicating a pattern that might tempt the toss-winning captain to field first here. 

Looking ahead to this fixture, Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers have both had a mixed start to the season and thus need to get their acts together if they hope to climb up the ladder. At this point, there’s not much separating the two sides, though, the Heat do look stronger on paper. Moreover, with the advantage of playing at home, we are backing Brisbane Heat to win this contest. 

Fantasy XI: Colin Munro, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Liam Scott, Jack Wildermuth (c), Jamie Overton (vc), Hugh Wiegben, Hasan Ali, Xavier Bartlett, Shaheen Afridi, Lloyd Pope 

Venue: The Gabba, Brisbane 

Winners Prediction: Brisbane Heat