Brisbane Heat knock out Sydney Thunder with a seven-wicket win
Brisbane Heat are just one step away from the BBL final as they defeated Sydney Thunder by 7 wickets to set up a clash with Perth Scorchers. Sam Heazlett (74*) and Jimmy Peirson (43*) starred with the bat to fetch the win for the Heat.
Earlier, Sydney Thunder had put up 158 runs on the board, thanks to a late flourish from Ben Cutting. They were well in the game while bowling as Brisbane Heat were 56-2 after 10 overs. But the partnership between Peirson and Heazlett took the game away from the Thunder.
Brief BBL score: Sydney Thunder 158-8 (Cutting 34, Steketee 2-22). Brisbane Heat 162-3 in 19.1 overs (Heazlett 74*, Sams 1-32). The Heat won by 7 wickets.
Brisbane Heat stay in the race for their second BBL title
Chasing 159 for the win, Joe Denly was dismissed for a duck in the second over as Daniel Sams hit the timber. Then Brendan Doggett picked up the crucial wicket of skipper Chris Lynn as he was caught at mid-off for 10. Sam Heazlett and Marnus Labuschagne then batted cautiously and took the score to 32-2 in six overs.
The pressure was building on the duo as Brisbane Heat managed just one boundary between overs 4 and 10. After ten overs, they were going below run-a-ball as the score read 56-2. Another 103 runs were needed off the last ten overs.
Marnus Labuschagne (32) then got run out while taking a tight second run. However, the game completely changed after that as Peirson and Heazlett formed an unbeaten 92-run partnership to see their side home. To be fair, the Thunder helped their cause with some mediocre bowling in the second half of the chase.
Ben Cutting helps Sydney Thunder post 158-8
Earlier, Brisbane Heat won the toss and invited Sydney Thunder to bat first. Xavier Bartlett started with a maiden in the first over. BBL's top scorer Alex Hales was then caught at mid-on off the bowling of Mark Steketee in the 4th over.
After six overs, the Thunder were going below 6 runs per over as they were 33-1. Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson accelerated the scoring after that. However, Marnus Labuschagne's leg-spin soon did the trick as he bamboozled Khawaja, who was stumped for 28. At the ten-over mark, Sydney Thunder were 68-2 with Sam Billings and Ferguson at the crease.
Coming in as a BBL X factor substitute, Morne Morkel dismissed Ferguson for 25. Billings kept the scoreboard moving by getting some boundaries. He smashed two back-to-back fours off Ben Laughlin's over.
However, Laughlin had the last laugh as Billings was caught at long-on for a well-made 34. Mitchell Swepson then bowled a double-wicket over to break the back of the Thunder innings. After 16 overs, the score was 110-6.
Thanks to some late power hitting by Ben Cutting (34 off 18), Sydney Thunder reached a competitive score of 158 in their 20 overs. The BBL Power Surge was taken in the last two overs, and it yielded 24 runs.
Brisbane Heat eventually chased the total and they are still in the race to be crowned the BBL champions.