Predicting Melbourne Stars Women’s playing XI for their match against Brisbane Heat Women in WBBL

The WBBL is currently in its final few games and this time we will be talking about the Melbourne Stars who will be facing the Brisbane Heat on Sunday. The Stars are right now having a three-game losing streak after losing the Melbourne derby at the MCG and it will be interesting to see what eleven will they have in their last four matches of the season and will have nothing to lose.

The Melbourne Stars women are currently placed 7th in the table and will have to win every game from here on in the tournament. They will need to come back in the last four matches in great fashion to fix a place in the top four. This will be a testing period for Annabel Sutherland and the girls to make sure they get back to winning ways and stay alive in the tournament.

So, here is the predicted playing XI for the Stars for the upcoming match:

Top order: Yastika Bhatia(wk), Ines Mckeon and Sophie Reid

This was a close matchup and though Yastika and McKeon failed in the last match does not change the fact that they won’t be backed in the future. However, the stars may have to decide to replace Meg Lanning with a young Sophie Reid considering the amount of times the legendary Aussie batter has failed this season. This seems like a much better top order.

Middle order: Annabel Sutherland(c), Marizanne Kapp and Deepti Sharma

These three all-rounders still play a key role in the Stars squad and there is no reason to replace them at all. In fact, though Sutherland and Deepti failed with the ball in hand they still played some decent knocks to keep their team in the game. All three of these all-rounders are key to the team and can contribute with both bat and ball even during the crucial stages in the game.

Lower Middle order: Rhys Mckenna and Tess Flintoff

Talking of adding depth to the squad even though Mckenna is known to be great with the ball, she came through with bat in hand along with Tess Flintoff. These two almost brought back the Stars into the game and there is no doubt that they should be getting a game against the Heat in Sydney as well. These two bowling all-rounders could be the trump cards that can make a difference in the matches.

Tailenders: Kim Garth, Sasha Maloney, and Sophie Day

Kim Garth has been a top bowler for the Stars this season and Sophie Day also played a great role with her left-arm spin. Though it would be unfair to Gibson who did not get a chance to bowl last game, The Stars will want the experience of Sasha Maloney eventually. Maloney has some ability with the bat as well which could be vital for the Stars in crunch matches as well.