Brisbane Heat 174 for 1 (Lynn 98*, McCullum 50*) beat Perth Scorchers 173 for 6 (M Marsh 70, Swepson 2-27) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Lynn hit a BBL-record 11 sixes in his 49-ball 98* © Getty Images
Chris Lynn bulldozed the Perth Scorchers in the willing company of Brendon McCullum to offer the Brisbane Heat a rich reward – top spot on the table – at the end of the longest road trip of the Big Bash League.
The Scorchers thought themselves well placed at the end of their 20 overs, having put up more than 170 via the power-hitting of the sometime Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. They also had a handsome defensive record to call on.
However Lynn and McCullum made short work of the tally, in the process marking the Heat as a team capable of chasing any total, anywhere, and any time during this tournament.
Lynn’s fireworks
Eleven sixes. Eleven, seriously. There had been Australian summers in the past where that figure would have been considered a decent tally for an entire season, yet the cool-handed Queenslander was able to put that many beyond the WACA Ground’s boundaries in the course of a single innings.
In the process, Lynn hammered his 26th six of the BBL, more than any other team, let alone any other player. The pick of them? Arguably one off Andrew Tye to wide long-on that challenged Mark Waugh’s blow off the bowling of the Heat coach Daniel Vettori in a 1997 Test match as the biggest-ever struck at the ground.
Of course it all may have been different when David Willey hung onto a chance at the Prindiville Stand end of the ground off the bowling of Ashton Agar. It was nicely taken apart from the fact the fielder had stood on the boundary rope before tossing the ball back towards the field of play, thus reprieving Lynn to carry on with his long-hitting feats.
Lynn’s effort put to shade Mitchell Marsh’s 41-ball 70 for the Scorchers © Getty Images
Keeping things under control
While Lynn’s effort was pivotal, the fact that much of his innings was played with a negligible required rate to consider was once again down to the Heat’s bowlers, albeit without the services of Samuel Badree, left out in favour of Nathan Reardon. Instead the spin responsibility fell upon Mitchell Swepson, who responded grandly.
Crucially, his first over went for a measly two runs and also featured the wicket of Ian Bell. When he followed up by deceiving Shaun Marsh two overs later, Swepson had put the Heat well on the path to restricting the Scorchers to a total within Lynn’s ample reach. Swepson did his Australia chances no harm this night.
Top of the table
Victory in Perth catapulted the Heat to top spot, usurping the Scorchers in the process. This was a win for an aggressive team over opponents who pride themselves on restriction of a batting side, and for the moment there seems no way of containing Lynn in particular.
Both sides, however, look sure of a spot in the semi-finals. The only question is which one will emerge at the end of the minor rounds with the right to a home semi and also the final, should they get that far.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo