Hales-Gilkes' 124-run unbeaten stand helps Thunder thump Heat

• Alex Hales and Matt Giles share an opening 124-run stand
• Mitchell Swepson smashed for 25 runs in an over
• Earlier in the tournament, Thunder were bundled out of 15 runs

Alex Hales won Player of the Match

England international Alex Hales and upcoming Australian talent Matthew Gilkes took Sydney Thunder home against Brisbane Heat as they chased down 122 runs with 8.2 overs still remaining. 

Chasing a mediocre total on a slow track could have been trouble, but the Thunder openers first took calculative risks before launching the Heat bowlers out of the park. Then, both the batters scored their half-centuries as they shared an unbeaten 122-run opening partnership.

After opting to bat first, Heat had one disastrous start: they lost three wickets in 6.1 overs. However, Colin Munro and captain Jimmy Peirson tried to steady the ship for Brisbane - but they were extremely slow as per T20's standards. 

The New Zealand batter batted stagnantly for his 47-ball 43, and if it was not for Xavier Bartlett's quickfire 28*, Heat would have collapsed even earlier. They ended on 121 for 6 as Chris Green and Daniel Sams scalped two wickets each. 

To the response of a low total, the team - who earlier in the innings got bundled out for 15 - were simply brilliant. Gilkes started with a flyer, scoring three classy boundaries in the first two overs. Hales soon started matching the youngster stroke to stroke, and the Thunder seemed to be in a hurry tonight; the opening partnership clicked for them.

As the duo from Sydney smacked every bowler throughout the innings, the last nail was thumped in the 11th over when Gilkes clobbered Mitchell Swepson left, right, and centre for 25 runs in an over before Hales smoked three boundaries off Mark Steketee to finish off things. 

In the end, the Englishman ended with a 59* off 36 deliveries, while Gilkes got a 34-ball 56.

Brief Score

Brisbane Heat - 121/6 (20)
Colin Munro - 43 (47), Xavier Bartlett - 28* (17)
Chris Green - 2/14 (4), Daniel Sams - 2/27 (4)

Sydney Thunder - 124/0 (11.4)
Alex Hales - 59* (36), Matt Gilkes - 56* (34)
Matthew Kuhnemann - 0/7 (1), Xavier Bartlett - 0/17 (2)

Sydney Thunder won by 10 wickets.

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