A depleted Sydney Sixers have opted to bowl in the BBL Challenger final against Adelaide Strikers at the SCG, where a fresh bid for Steve Smith to play was blocked despite Josh Philippe contracting COVID-19.
Philippe is missing Wednesday night's clash, which will decide who joins Perth Scorchers in Friday night's title-deciding final, after testing positive to the virus on Tuesday.
Philippe joins Mickey and Jack Edwards in being sidelined because of COVID-19.
As all Sixers players have been given individual rooms this week, no other players have been forced to withdraw as close contacts.
Sixers batter Daniel Hughes, who was racing the clock to play after suffering an ankle injury, failed his pre-match fitness test.
Jake Cardner, who is based in South Australia and making his debut for the Sixers, has been plucked from the player replacement pool by the hosts.
Jay Lenton, having acted as an assistant coach for the Sixers, has replaced Philippe in a rejigged XI that is also minus dumped paceman Jackson Bird.
Adelaide named an unchanged XI, backing the same side that defeated Sydney Thunder at the MCG on Sunday night.
The Sixers, having previously tried to sign Smith up for the finals, asked the question of Cricket Australia (CA) yet again on Tuesday night after Philippe's positive test.
That request was blocked because CA does not consider Smith a replacement for Philippe, given he does not solve their issue behind the stumps.
If more players contract the virus, it is possible CA could expand their replacement list before Friday's decider.
Smith would then need to make himself available for both teams, in the unlikely event Perth needed to draft him into their side.
CA's decision not to allow Smith to play in the BBL finals has been met with heavy criticism.
CA passed the matter on to rival state chief executives and officials to make a call on whether the Sixers should be able to recruit from outside the replacement list, but it was voted against.
Sydney Sixers XI: Justin Avendano, Hayden Kerr, Jake Carder, Moises Henriques (capt), Jordan Silk, Dan Christian, Sean Abbott, Hayden Kerr, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Lyon, Stephen O'Keefe.
Adelaide Strikers XI: Alex Carey, Matt Short, Ian Cockbain, Travis Head, Jonathan Wells, Matthew Renshaw, Thomas Kelly, Henry. Thornton, Harry Conway, Peter Siddle (capt), Fawad Ahmed.
