The Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers are the cream of the crop after the opening half of the season. The Heat have won four out of five matches, with the Scorchers winnings three of four. Both sides have one no result in their copybooks through abandoned contests.

Brisbane, last season's beaten finalists, have wins over the Melbourne Stars, Sydney Thunder twice and Melbourne Renegades. Colin Munro is the team's leading batter with 157 runs through four innings – the third most in the 2023 BBL. The Heat also host the second leading wicket taker in Xavier Bartlett.

Defending champions Perth, meanwhile, have victories over both Melbourne franchises and the Hobart Hurricanes. Aaron Hardie leads the tournament with 182 runs from four innings with a pair of 50s in the early going. The Scorchers also boast a top three wicket taker in the competition - Jason Behrendorff has eight wickets so far.

The five-time winners Perth are the bookies' favourites to claim a sixth title at 7/2, slightly ahead of Brisbane at 9/4. The Sydney Sixers are third in the betting at 9/2 - they have three victories and one defeat to date.

The remaining five teams face an uphill task to make the playoffs with the top three teams in such good form. Adelaide Strikers (9/1), Sydney Thunder (14/1), Melbourne Stars (16/1), Hobart Hurricanes (20/1) and Melbourne Renegades (66/1) will struggle to win the title from the position they are in.

Switching to the player markets, current leading run scorer Hardie is 5/1 to claim the Top Batter crown, with Cameron Bancroft (11/2), Matthew Short (11/2), Munro (10/1) and Matthew Wade (16/1) the top five in the market. Long-priced batters to consider are Quentin de Kock (80/1) and Matt Renshaw (33/1)

In the Top Wicket Taker market, it's Daniel Sams – who has 10 wickets in the tournament to date – who leads the way at 6/1 ahead of Behrendorff (7/1), Ben Dwarshuis (10/1), Barlett (10/1) and David Payne (14/1). Adam Zampa (33/1) and Paul Walter (25/1) are longer shots to consider.