Big Bash League: Sydney Thunder beat Brisbane Heat, Perth Scorchers win against Melbourne Stars

Two days after beating Brisbane by ten wickets, Sydney won again by 11 runs at Metricon Stadium on Thursday despite Munro scoring a sensational 98.

The Thunder made the Heat regret their decision to bowl first as they posted their highest season score (6-182). In turn, Brisbane fell behind by 9-171.

Things were already looking bad for the Heat when they fell to 2-14 in the second over, but Munro was undeterred by his team's predicament and continued to keep the Heat in good touch with some spectacular batting as wickets fell around him.

Munro played alone for the Heat, hitting three sixes and nine fours to post a strike rate of 185 in his 53 balls.

After Sydney's spinners Chris Green (1-20 off four overs) and Usman Qadir (1-30 off four overs) slowed down between the 13th and 16th overs, the Heat's required run rate was over 12.5 as they got through 26 balls without a boundary.

And when Qadir brought down Bazley with 16 balls to go, the task became complicated for the Heat.

Late hits from Daniel Sams (36 off 15 balls), Alex Ross (25 off 12) and Oliver Davies (16 off 10) helped the Thunder reach their impressive score.

Sams was exceptionally destructive, hitting four sixes, including two sixes off Mitchell Swepson, one of which sailed into the second row.

James Bazley, who was the only man included in the Heat line-up for this game, was the best bowler, taking 4-22 in his four overs and taking a hat-trick in the final over.

Daniel Sams was named Man of the Match for his outstanding performance. He scored 36 runs in 15 balls and picked up two wickets in his four overs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Back on top! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BBL12?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BBL12</a> <br><br>Recap 👇 <a href="https://t.co/DvZESo7ABe">https://t.co/DvZESo7ABe</a></p>&mdash; cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) <a href="https://twitter.com/cricketcomau/status/1608468311205105665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Perth Scorchers beats Melbourne Stars, Game 20, Highlights

Paceman for the Perth Scorchers, Jhye Richardson, took four wickets for the second time this KFC BBL season to help his team beat the Melbourne Stars by six wickets at Optus Stadium.

Richardson dismissed Tom Rogers (20) and Beau Webster in the fourth over of Thursday night's match, and he repeated the feat in the 14th over on his way to figures of 4-25.

The Stars' total of 135 was far below par, and Scorchers captain Ashton Turner (53 off 26 balls) and opener Adam Lyth (35 off 30 balls) aided the home team's victory with 15 balls to spare.

The Stars were in big trouble at 8-86 when Richardson bowled Luke Wood around at the legs after Nathan Coulter-Nile had been caught on the boundary.

However, late-game contributions from Hilton Cartwright (36 off 32 balls) and tail-ender Trent Boult (23no off 16 balls) lifted the Stars to a more manageable total.

Lyth joined the match under intense pressure to deliver after scoring 4, 10, 7, and 4.

Coming off a match-winning 48 against the Strikers, Turner hit six fours and three sixes against the Stars before holing out with only two runs needed to win.

Richardson was the night's biggest hero, despite having two chances to score a hat-trick.

Richardson, who had limited preparation due to a heel injury, also took 4-9 in the season opener and now has 12 wickets this season, trailing only Adelaide Strikers paceman Henry Thornton (14 wickets).

The Scorchers' other key players with the ball were Jason Behrendorff (2-22) and AJ Tye (2-24).

Marcus Stoinis was out for 10 in the 10th over when he skied Tye to mid-off, continuing the powerful batter's troubling form slump.

This BBL season, Stoinis has posted scores of 0, 0, 4, and 10.

His back-to-back ducks to begin his campaign occurred while battling Covid.

The 33-year-old was rested following the Sydney Sixers' Boxing Day loss, and his return against the Scorchers lasted only ten balls.