Hobart Hurricanes started the defence of their title with a loss to the Stars but have been strong since, even without Tim David, who is out for the season with a hamstring injury. A washout against the Sixers at the SCG gave them a point that sealed a place in the finals and a five-point cushion over teams outside the top four.
Nikhil Chaudhary leads their run chart with 263 in eight matches at a strike rate of 158, while Mitch Owen opens with him. Ben McDermott has 211 and Tim Ward 176. Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis have taken 18 wickets together, Chris Jordan is the death-overs specialist and Rishad Hossain has 11 wickets at 7.63.
Brisbane Heat have not won back-to-back games, but Usman Khawaja’s return after retiring from Tests helped, and he made 78 off 48 balls last time. Matt Renshaw has 287 runs in eight games, Max Bryant 188 and Jack Wildermuth 215. Xavier Bartlett leads the bowlers with 10 wickets, and Wildermuth and Thomas Balkin share 15, though the rest of the attack has been inconsistent.