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Match Report: Sam Heazlett-powered Heat knock out Thunder en-route BBL Challenger

Riding on a superlative Sam Heazlett and reliable Jimmy Peirson, the Brisbane Heat have marched to the Challenger against the Perth Scorchers and knocked the Sydney Thunder out of the ongoing edition of the Big Bash League. Heazlett was adjudged player of the match for his career-best score of 74 not out while Pierson played the role of an anchor with complete perfection as the Brisbane Heat continued their journey towards the cup they last won way back in 2012. Heazlett was battling with lack of timing on 25-ball-19 when Marnus Labuschnage went back to the dugout in a controversial runout and the partnership between them had eaten too many balls and left a lot of work to be done in the last eight overs. The team from Queensland required 89 runs from the last 48 balls, and in the end, both Hezlett and Peirson accelerated in a perfectly executed manner to take the Heat home with five balls to spare. The Heat did not falter on when to take the ‘Power Surge’ like the Thunder who delayed the reinforcement and ultimately could not utilise it due to batsmen failing to see the larger picture of the game. The Heat’s batsmen in Peirson and Heazlett took the surge in the 16th over just when the duo started hitting their shots with perfect timing. The three overs preceding the surge in the 16th over yielded 41 runs with Hezlett sending the balls over the ropes thrice and Peirson supporting with one walloped to grass banks towards the square leg boundary. Once back in the rhythm of hitting big shots, Hezlett went on cue after taking the surge and belted Daniel Sams for three boundaries as the Thunder bowling attack was set to explode under pressure. A barrage of full tosses did not help the case as both Peirson and Heazlett kept on piling the balls over boundaries with pure cricketing shots. Two overs of power surge were utilised brutally for the Thunder as the duo kept the heat on the men in green and ultimately they needed a bit of magic to revive their fortunes in the game, which never arrived. The Thunder had it in their control till the wicket of Labuschagne when both him and Hezlett were getting bogged down in the absence of big hits. The duo could not quite go big in the middle overs as the Thunder’ spinners in Chirs Green and Tanveer Sangha choked them by denying any loose balls. Defending a middling target of 159, the Thunder had no option to get early wickets and Daniel Sams along with Brendan Doggett did not disappoint the team with two crucial wickets of Joe Denly and Chirs Lynn. The next two men at the crease—Labuschagne and Heazlett were struggling to find gaps and boundaries and the run rate kept on surging past 11 runs per over. Little did the Thunder know that Hezlett would redeem himself to his career-best score and will guide the team home by knocking them out of the competition. Earlier, the Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to get the best out of the pitch at the Manuka Oval which offered pace and bounce to start with. For the Thunder though, batting first should not have been a setback with their openers Alex Hales and Usman Khwaja have been in superb form and Hales, in particular, has been extremely severe against the new ball. The script did not look unfamiliar, but the scenes that unravelled in the mandatory power play was exactly opposite from what the Thunder were hoping for. Khawaja looked bereft of touch as the Heat’s new-ball bowlers Xavier Bartlett and Mark Steketee made the new ball talk from either end. Bartlett almost got Khwaja out with the one that sung back into the left-hander but only to be denied by the umpire in one of the long list of howlers that the current edition of the Big Bash League has seen. Halfway into the mandatory power play, and more dangerous among the two—Hales was kept away from the strike as Khwaja struggled to rotate the strike with the field up inside the circle. Hales could play only one delivery in the first 12 balls, and the impact of lack of strike was telling as Hales could not get his timing right. He once edged and survived a missed opportunity while another attempt of breaking through the shackles led to his downfall. The next man in, Callum Fergusson kept the scoreboard going as he came hard against the leg-spin of Mitchell Swepson while Khwaja showed signs of coming back to his own with big shots against Lewis Gregory. The Heat’s skipper turned to an emerging sensation with leg-spin in Marnus Labuschagne and he carried his wicket-taking form with the wicket of Khwaja as the left-hander could not quite redeem himself from the sluggish innings. Sam Billings and Ferguson joined hands in efforts to resurrect the Thunder at the Manuka Oval as the Heat bowlers kept on their merry ways to tighten up things for the men in green. Billings looked in decent touch and did not let any loose balls go waste. Sam Billings should be credited for bringing the Thunder’s batting on track but his recklessness derailed the game for the Thunder as well. He was all over Ben Laughlin in the 15th over and the power surge was just around the corner, but the right-hander could not resist the temptation of making the most of Laughlin and in the end, he had the last laugh as a wicket of a set batsman around the power surge time would have hurt the men in green. The Thunder were not short of heroes though as Ben Cutting came and went berserk from the word go. He was at his usual best and dispatched anything pitched in his half. He was particularly thunderous against Morne Morkel who ironically was brought into the game through X-Factor substitution. Morkel was guilty of bowling short to the right-hander and Cutting cut loose to propel the Thunder to a total they could bank upon the bowling attack to defend and earn a place in the Challenger against Perth Scorchers.

Knew it would be tough for Aussie bowlers to run through the side if I was around: Pujara

India Test mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara has said that there are times when strike-rate hardly matters while a batsman is out there in the middle. “There are times when strike rate hardly matters. Every batsman has a role to play. The team management completely understands that. Whether it was Ravi bhai (coach) or Vicky bhai (batting coach) or Ajinkya, they just told me to keep batting the way I bat,” Pujara said, according to PTI. Talking about the batsmen who are aggressive with their style, Pujara said that it is bonus to have a mix of techniques in the batting order. “You can’t just bat in one way. It is good to have stroke players like Rohit and Rishabh at the other end so I just need to bat the way I do,” said the Rajkot-based cricketer. Pujara played an important role in India’s successful campaign in Australia. India defeated Australia in the second and fourth Test while the third clash ended in a draw. Pujara scored 271 runs on the tour at a strike rate of 29.20. The right-handed batsman did admit that his stay at the crease for a longer period of time would dominate the Aussie bowling line up. “I had to take extra time to score those runs. I always saw the bigger picture because I knew that it would be tough for the bowlers to run through the side if I was around at the other end.”

PM Modi lauds India's win in Australia

The Indian cricket team created history after beating Australia in their own backyard to defend the Border-Gavaskar trophy. After being bundled out for 36 in the first Test of the four-match series, India made a strong comeback and etched wins in the second and fourth encounter while managed to conclude the third clash in a draw. The visitors faced a lot of injury concerns with players like Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari being ruled out during the series while R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah were not fully fit to play the final match. The unavailability of the senior players saw youngsters like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj coming up and anchoring India to a fine series win. PM Modi during his radio show ‘Mann Ki Baat’ lauded the team’s efforts. “This month, we got good news from the cricket pitch. After initial hiccups, the Indian team bounced back gloriously and won the series in Australia. Our team's hard work and teamwork was inspiring," PM Modi said during 'Mann Ki Baat'. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) thanked PM Modi for his words of appreciation and encouragement. “Thank you Shri @narendramodi ji for your appreciation and words of encouragement. #TeamIndia will do everything possible to keep the tricolour flying high. @imVkohli @ajinkyarahane88 @RaviShastriOfc @RishabhPant17 @Jaspritbumrah93 @ImRo45 @JayShah @SGanguly99 @ThakurArunS,” BCCI tweeted. The Indian team is presently sitting at the helm of the points table of the WTC and will now face England in the four-match series at home. The Test series begins on February 5 in Chennai.

Mitchell Marsh fined $5,000 for 'unacceptable' behavior against umpire's decision

The Perth Scorchers’ all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been fined $5,000 for showing aggressive dissent against the umpiring decision that ruled him out in the Qualifier against Sydney Sixers. However, Marsh has been deemed luck to get away with just fine and avoiding a suspension that would have ruled out of the Challenger Final due to be played on Cricket Australia had held a hearing after the completion of the game between the Scorchers and the Sixers and Marsh was found guilty of a Level 2 breach of Code of Conduct. The breach can lead to a suspension or a maximum penalty of $10,000, but Marsh’s good conduct and a ‘clean’ record on the field over the last 18 months worked in his favour and he got away with the fine of a mere $5,000. Marsh accepted the breach of code of conduct set by Cricket Australia and he acknowledged his response to a bad decision by the umpire was ‘unacceptable’ and that he does not want to set that example to young cricketers who follow him. "I accept the fine handed down to me, my reaction to the umpire's decision was unacceptable and not the example I want to be setting for any young cricketer," Marsh said. "I have complete respect for the umpires and the job they do. I'll learn from this and look forward to Thursday night’s match."