Big Bash League: Sydney Thunders defeat Brisbane Heat to get back on track
Sydney Thunder, who became a laughing stock in the cricket world due to their humiliating defeat 11 days back, today silenced every one by defeating Brisbane Heat by ten wickets
Sydney Thunders defeat Brisbane HeatFor the Thunder, it was their first home game since going all-out for 15 runs against Adelaide just under two weeks ago. Hales (59 No.) and fellow forward Matthew Gilkes (56 No.) provided a dominant performance.
The win - by 50 balls - was the Thunder's second of the season, moving them away from the bottom of the table BBL.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">✅ Clear skies from Sydney Showground Stadium, but a damaging Halestorm caused some destruction <br>✅ Opening batters not out<br>✅ Opening batters hit a half-century EACH<br>✅ OPENING BATTERS GET IT DONE IN 11.4 OVERS <br><br>Let’s give it up for Hales & Gilkes 🤜🤛 <a href="https://t.co/6pzh5RdbWn">pic.twitter.com/6pzh5RdbWn</a></p>— Sydney Thunder (@ThunderBBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThunderBBL/status/1607695390866018310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The carefree approach of Gilkes and Hales helped the Thunder reach the Heat's target of 121 with ease, much to the delight of the crowd of 8,534.
Gilkes, in particular, took delight in punishing Test hopeful Mitchell Swepson (0-40 from three overs) by smashing him over the ground for 25 in one over.
After winning the coin toss and opting to bat, Brisbane had a tough night. Max Bryant, Sam Billings and Matt Renshaw all scored in single digits.
Opener Colin Munro steadied the ship with a methodical 43-run performance and formed a balanced partnership with Jimmy Peirson (27).
In the 11th over, Pierson was hit on the helmet by a 132 kmph delivery from Nathan McAndrew.
Peirson could play on, but his dismissal was the start of the Heat's implosion as Munro departed and Michael Neser had to go for a golden duck.
Xavier Bartlett added 28 runs off 17 balls and kept the Thunder to a modest and achievable score.
Gilkes and Hales rose to the challenge, going after Swepson and Neser from the start, and they didn't let up.
Player of the match: Matthew Gilkes was named man of the game (56 off 34 balls)
Sydney Thunder squad
They were playing - Matthew Gilkes (wk), Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, Oliver Davies, Daniel Sams, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Chris Green (c), Brendan Doggett, Usman Qadir, Gurinder Sandhu.
Bench - Toby Gray, Ben Cutting, Joel Davies, Blake Nikitaras, Baxter Holt, Sam Whiteman
Brisbane Heat squad
They were playing - Max Bryant, Colin Munro, Matt Renshaw, Ross Whiteley, Sam Billings, Jimmy Peirson (c & wk), Michael Neser, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Swepson, Xavier Bartlett, Mark Steketee
Bench - James Bazley, Josh Brown, Will Prestwidge, Sam Heazlett, Jack Wildermuth