Traditional rivals New South Wales Blues and Victorian Bushrangers will take on each at the MCG as battle heats up at the KFC Twenty20 BigBash.

The Blues coasted to a clinical win against the Tasmanian Tigers while the Bushrangers, edged past the Queensland Bulls on D/L in the opener.

Both sides, which qualified for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20, have been in good T20 form over the last few seasons.

The Victorians have some old scores to settle against New South Wales.

Beaten in the finals of the KFC Twenty20 BigBash and the semi-final of the Airtel CL T20 on a slow turner at the Ferozshah Kotla, Victoria have a lot to play for.

The Victorians consider themselves to be a better T20 unit than the senior Australian team and they will need all their resources to fire to keep up that hype.

The Blues, who won the inaugural Airtel CL T20 will miss most of their stars, who are engaged in the Test series between Australia and Pakistan.

Skipper Simon Katich, off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson are on national duty and that leaves a huge hole for the Blues to fill.

The Bushrangers will miss the services of Clint Mckay and Peter Siddle, who has been ruled out with injury.

However, the Blues will draw a lot of inspiration from the way their openers, Phillip Hughes and David Warner batted in their opening match against the Tigers.

Young Moises Henriques, thrust with the responsibility of captaincy in the absence of Katich was impressive with the bat too.

The Bushrangers, on the other hand, will have a lot to worry about. New Zealand middle order star, Ross Taylor, who was brought in as a last minute recruit, had to return home to fulfil domestic commitments.

The right-handed Taylor was the pick of the Victorian batsmen in their win against the Bulls in the rain-hit opener.

However, the Bushrangers will rely on dynamic opener Rob Quiney, Brad Hodge and middle order ace, David Hussey to deliver the goods.

The difference between the two sides could still be two West Indian all-rounders. While the Blues would want Dwayne Smith to make a heavier impact, the Bushrangers would back Dwayne Bravo to pack in a punch.

The Blues look more balanced on paper, with last season’s highest wicket-taker Aaron Bird off to a good start this year and young leg-spinner Steven Smith showing his mettle in the middle overs.