The Perth Scorchers are 5-223 from 18 overs after being sent in by the Brisbane Heat in their clash at The Gabba.

Cooper Connolly smashed 77 from just 37 balls including six sixes and six fours before he was caught by a freak catch on the boundary from Xavier Bartlett off Jack Wildermuth as the Scorchers reached 2-151 after 12 overs.

Finn Allen blasted eight sixes and two fours in a blistering 79 from 38 balls, before he was caught by Colin Munro off Shaheen Afridi.

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MATCH CENTRE: Heat vs Scorchers scorecard, teams, stats

Ashton Turner only managed 12 off five balls, before he was caught by Bartlett in the deep to give Matt Kuhnemann his first scalp.

The Perth Scorchers are in the middle of dealing an injury-ridden Heat outfit a stark reality check in just the second game of the BBL season.

The white-hot Scorchers have tormented Brisbane across the first eight overs of Friday’s game at the Gabba. They are 1-90 and Matt Kuhnemann’s first over back in teal conceded 23 runs.

Brisbane, who are already missing the vim and vigour of left arm quick Spencer Johnson, only have four specialist bowlers in the lineup and that shallow depth is already apparent.

Finn Allen has belted 44 runs at a strike rate over 200.

Shaheen Afridi, touted as a huge coup for Brisbane, went for eight runs in his first over and was afforded just one over by Nathan McSweeney.

McSweeney dropped Allen, albeit an extremely tough catch in the outfield, when he was in single digits and he has made the most of his second chance as Brisbane look for answers before its too late.

Compounding Brisbane’s sluggish start has been 15 sundries, 11 of which have been wides.

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MATCH PREVIEW

Nathan McSweeney and the Brisbane Heat host Ashton Turner and the Perth Scorchers in a blockbuster BBL15 clash at The Gabba.

Nathan McSweeney won the bat flip and the Heat will bowl first in their clash with the Scorchers.

The Heat are coming off a first up loss to the Renegades, while the Scorchers beat the Sydney Sixers in their season opener.

Colin Munro and Matt Renshaw will lead the charge with the bat for the Heat, while Xavier Bartlett and Shaheen Afridi will be the danger men with the ball.

For the Scorchers Mitchell Marsh and Cooper Connolly will be the key men with the bat, while Joel Paris and Ashton Agar will be key with ball in hand.

The Scorchers will be looking to cement top spot on the ladder, while the last place Heat need to win to keep in touch with the top five.

It sets the scene for a fascinating clash between two former BBL champion teams.

TEAMS

Brisbane Heat: Colin Munro, Jack Wildermuth, Nathan McSweeney (c), Matthew Renshaw, Max Bryant, Hugh Weibgen, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Xavier Bartlett, Shaheen Afridi, Matt Kuhnemann, Liam Haskett

Perth Scorchers: Mitch Marsh, Finn Allen (wk), Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie, Ashton Turner (c), Laurie Evans, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Jhye Richardson, Joel Paris, Brody Couch