BBL 10 Match Report: Burns and Denly lead Heat to victory over Thunder

Despite a late wobble, Brisbane Heat were able to complete a rather clinical chase to register an important victory over Sydney Thunder in their Big Bash League (BBL) match at Gabba on Monday. Joe Burns, who has been dropped from the Australian Test team for poor performances in the two Tests this summer against India, found his groove again and scored a brilliant 52 off 38 balls to spearhead the chase. 

He was ably assisted by Englishman Joe Denly who also scored a half-century, 50 off 36 balls, and crafted a pivotal 90-run partnership that sealed the game for the home team. In the end, the target of 175 was chased down by the Heat in 19.1 overs, for the loss of five wickets. 

Sydney Thunder won the toss and chose to bat first. They suffered a loss very early on as Usman Khawaja was dismissed on the second ball of the match by Xavier Bartlett. However, Thunder fought back strongly with Alex Hales and Callum Ferguson going after the bowlers. 

The 50 for the Sydney-based side came up in 6.2 overs as the Hales-Ferguson partnership started finding the boundaries regularly. Heat turned to their main spin weapon, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, and he brought results. Even though he went for runs in his first over, Mujeeb struck in his second over, getting Hales out four short of his half-century. 

The Afghan struck again three overs later to get the other set batsman Callum Ferguson out as well. At 93/3 in 11.4 overs, the match was hanging in the balance. But it tilted towards the bowling side as Mark Steketee got the wicket of Ollie Davis soon after to leave the team at a precarious 96/4. Sam Billings played a couple of impressive shots before getting out himself for 22. 

Then, Daniel Sams played another great cameo, despite suffering a hard blow to his head when a bouncer struck his helmet. Sams’ 37 from 18 balls lifted Thunder from 108/5 in 13.4 overs to 147/6 in 17.3. After Sams’ dismissal, Ben Cutting took over and played a cameo of 24 from 15 balls. The Sydney side ended up with 174/8. For Heat, Mujeeb and Steketee picked up two wickets each.

Heat then unleashed a major weapon in their arsenal – the super sub Chris Lynn. He and Max Bryant got their team a blazing start. Lynn threw all caution to wind and launched into various big hits. Bryant also got going with a few boundaries. 

The introduction of spin brought respite to Thunder. First, Chris Green ended the knock of Bryant and then, young leggie Tanveer Sangha got the prized scalp of Lynn. However, there was no backing away by Heat and in the same over that Sangha got the wicket of Lynn, his first, he also conceded 11 runs. 

The spinners were then held back as the pacers were brought back. The two Joes – Burns and Denly – then formed the key partnership that completely took the game away from Thunder. The only time the team wearing blue looked wavering in their chase was when Sangha picked up two wickets in two balls – first Denly and then Lewis Gregory. Another wicket quickly after, of Burns, did create some tension. 

But with the required run rate well under control, all it needed were a couple of boundaries to end the pressure and take the team home. With six needed off seven balls, a lofted boundary over midwicket took Heat on the brink of victory. A brace of the first ball of the last over brought curtains down on the match. 

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