Brisbane Heat have won the toss and will bat in the Big Bash League Twenty20 match against Sydney Thunder at ANZ Stadium.

The teams occupy the last two spots on the ladder with Brisbane on 1-3 following three straight losses and Thunder on 0-4.

Heat have lost batsman Joe Burns with a hamstring injury and replaced him with Peter Forrest.

Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis will make his debut for Thunder, but batsman and compatriot Tillakaratne Dilshan is out with a back complaint.

Mendis fills the import spot left by batsman Eoin Morgan, who has joined the England one-day squad.

Batsman Cameron Borgas plays his first game of the season for Thunder, while Mendis replaces paceman Luke Feldman in the bowling attack.

Teams:

Thunder: Ryan Carters, Kurtis Patterson, Cameron Borgas, Dirk Nannes, Mike Hussey (capt), Ajantha Mendis, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain, Jason Floros, Usman Khawaja, Daniel Hughes.

Heat: Luke Pomersbach, Craig Kieswetter, Peter Forrest, Dan Christian, Chris Lynn, James Hopes, Ben Cutting, Daniel Vettori, Chris Sabburg, Cameron Gannon, Mark Steketee.