BBL champions Brisbane Heat have ground to make up if they want to defend their crown following three successive defeats.
The Heat are 2.05 to bounce back with a win over the Sydney Sixers at Coffs Harbour on Friday but will have to improve markedly on last week's eight-wicket hiding at the hands of the league leaders.
The Sixers suffered their first defeat of the season against the Hurricanes last time out but are 1.78 to chalk up a fifth win in six outings this term.
BBL champions Brisbane began the season with two opening victories but the Heat have gone off the boil since.
Brisbane have lost their last three matches and any hopes they had of retaining their title could be put on the backburner by the table-topping Sydney Sixers.
The Sixers are making a fine bid for a fourth BBL crown, although they will have to pick themselves up from a first defeat of the season when they take on the Heat at Coffs Harbour.
However, it is less than a week since the Sixers thumped Brisbane by eight wickets at The Gabba, where the Sydneysiders chased down a modest 139-run target with 23 balls to spare.
So it is understandable that the Sixers are 1.78 favourites to claim a fifth win of the season and they could leave the reigning champions on the ropes.
England international James Vince has made Sydney a regular destination for a winter getaway in the last few years, first playing for the Thunder in the BBL before switching to the Sixers in 2018.
Vince won his first Big Bash title with the Sixers in 2020 and then scored a match-winning 95 in the 2021 final as the Sydney franchise retained their crown.
It's been feast or famine for the Hampshire batter in this season's BBL. He scored a fluent 40 in the Sixers' opening win over the Renegades and then struck his first BBL century in Sydney's third game at home to the Stars.
His other innings have yielded starts of 13, 10 and 11 but he could cash in against a lukewarm Brisbane Heat bowling attack.
Vince watched on as opening partner Josh Philippe put Brisbane to the sword at The Gabba last week but take a chance on the England international, who is 4.75 to be the Sixers leading runscorer on Friday, leading from the front this time.
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Sydney Sixers - 1.78
Brisbane Heat - 2.05
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.