KFC BBL|12
Brisbane Heat's Test trio of Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Renshaw will play against the Renegades on Sunday who will be without Kane Richardson
Jack Paynter
28 January 2023, 08:58 PM AEST
@jackpayn
Test trio Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Renshaw will play for the Brisbane Heat in their sudden-death KFC BBL|12 Knockout final against the Melbourne Renegades on Sunday night.
Khawaja, Labuschagne and Renshaw are all flying out to India with Test squad on Tuesday for the four-match Border-Gavaskar series but will also fly to Melbourne for Sunday's match.
The trio played crucial roles in the Heat's eight-run Duckworth-Lewis-Stern victory over the Thunder last night with Khawaja (94 off 55 balls) and Labuschagne (73 off 48) putting on 128 for the second-wicket before Renshaw smashed 24 off just eight deliveries as Brisbane posted the highest ever BBL total at Showground Stadium.
Khawaja had been hesitant to confirm his availability following last night's player-of-the-match performance after a gruelling Test summer, with the trio also facing another flight back to Sydney on Monday for the Allan Border Medal.
But after discussions with Heat coach Wade Seccombe, all three were today named in the squad to travel to Marvel Stadium.
However, Heat and Australia leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson won't be available for the clash in as he stays in Sydney to begin preparations for the Qantas Tour with a three-day spin camp.
"Uz and Marn batted beautifully the other night and we're delighted to have them stick with the group for another match before they go to India,'' Seccombe said.
Meanwhile, the Renegades will be without star quick Kane Richardson who will miss the match due to family reasons.
Richardson only returned to the Renegades side during their previous match against the Strikers where they secured their first finals appearance in four seasons after missing the penultimate match of the season with soreness.
It's a big blow for the home side with the 31-year-old the competition's third highest wicket-taker of all-time, and has collected 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.10 in 12 matches this season.
The winner of Sunday's clash will progress to the Challenger final on Thursday night to be hosted by the loser of today's Scorchers-Sixers match.
Renegades squad v Heat: Aaron Finch (c), Fawad Ahmed, Matt Critchley (England), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Sam Harper, Mackenzie Harvey, Ruwantha Kellapotha (Sri Lanka), Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Jack Prestwidge, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Will Sutherland, Jon Wells
Heat squad v Renegades: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Sam Hain (England), Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee
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Heat name Aussie trio to face Renegades in Knockout – cricket.com.au
