Brisbane Heat 153 for 4 (Burns 45, Peirson 43, McClenaghan 2-45) beat Sydney Thunder 149 for 4 (Watson 56, Shadab 2-27) by six wickets(Duckworth-Lewis method)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Lynn hit four fours and one six in a cameo of 25 off 9 balls © Getty Images
Two aspiring members of Brisbane’s Bash Brothers fraternity, Joe Burns and Alex Ross, got the Heat across the line in a thrilling run-chase against the Sydney Thunder at the Gabba.
The Heat were set 151 to win under Duckworth-Lewis rules off 17 overs after a rain delay early in the Thunder’s innings. That equation reduced to 40 off 23 balls when Ross joined Burns. Ross scored an incredible 25 not out from nine balls while Burns finished with 45 not out from 35 to steer the side home. Ross struck the winning runs via a dropped catch on the fence from substitute fielder Aiden Blizzard with one ball to spare.
Thunder captain Shane Watson had done everything right with bat, ball and in the field to give the Thunder a chance. He scored 56 from 34, took the key wicket of Chris Lynn and held a clutch catch off Ben Cutting but it wasn’t enough.
Pre-rain, pre-Shane
The Thunder’s powerplays have been unproductive throughout the tournament so far. They might only lost one wicket in each of their previous two games, but have only scored at a run-a-ball. The same thing happened in the first four overs before the rain delay. Jos Buttler and Kurtis Patterson struggled to find their timing, scoring just two boundaries between them in 24 balls. Patterson holed out from the 25th ball of the innings, the last one before the rain delay, with the score at 1 for 23.
Post-rain, enter Shane
Watson changed the game the moment he walked out after the rain delay, just as he did in the Thunder’s first win over Sydney Sixers. He pounced on two loose balls from Lalor to get off the mark with back-to-back boundaries. He launched into Mitch Swepson with two monster blows over midwicket in the eighth over. His second fifty of the tournament came off just 25 balls. He was unlucky to be dismissed by Shadab, falling just a metre short of clearing the long boundary down the ground. Shadab was the pick of the Heat bowlers again with 2 for 27 from four overs. Callum Ferguson played a neat cameo scoring 37 from 26 but he did some damage to team-mate Ben Rohrer. A powerfully struck drive injured Rohrer’s collarbone at the non-strikers’ end and it meant Blizzard had to substitute for him in the field.
More to follow
Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Perth
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo