Heazlett repays faith with 'game of his life'

Four years and a day since his international debut, Sam Heazlett played the innings of life.

The curious career of the silky smooth left-hander who has spent most of the second half of BBL|10 out of the Brisbane Heat team took another turn for the unexpected when he exploded from a stumbling start to spearhead a stunning victory over Sydney Thunder on Sunday evening.

Heazlett's future in teal had appeared murky when he was dropped after the Heat's first six games having managed 99 runs at 16.50. It was consistent with his overall career average of 14.51 for the Heat.

Recalled out of the blue for the finals to bat in the middle order, the 25-year-old made only four in Friday's Eliminator win over the Strikers before coming in to bat at 2-14 on Sunday.

With the Heat's title hopes seemingly spiralling out of reach as he took 27 balls to hit a boundary, Heazlett then bashed 55 from his final 23 balls in a match-turning stand with Jimmy Peirson (43 off 24).

"This might be the best game of cricket he's ever played in his life," said Ricky Ponting on Channel Seven.

His sudden and match-winning burst was a tantalising glimpse of the still unfulfilled talent Greg Chappell had spotted in Heazlett when he was picked on a 2017 ODI tour of New Zealand and made an unexpected debut.

"My head was spinning early and I played and missed at a few balls," Heazlett said after the Heat's seven-wicket win that vaulted them into the Challenger final against Perth Scorchers.

"I still try to go out with confidence, but you don't want to get out at two for not many. I probably wasn't quite as clear as he needed to be, I probably wasn't watching the ball as hard as I should have.

"(But) Jimmy's been playing really well this season so we had full confidence that we could lift the run rate towards the end. Thankfully we were able to get the chocolates."

Heazlett lost senior partner Marnus Labuschagne to a run out with seven overs to go and the asking rate at 11 an over, but immediately sensed his opportunity when teenage leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha came on to bowl the following over with a short square boundary on offer.

Having needed 89 from the final eight overs, Heazlett and Peirson iced the chase with five balls to spare.

For Heazlett, his stunning knock suggests his top-notch 50-over stats can translate to the shortest format. The batsman averages 54.05 in List A cricket but has struggled to replicate his success in the BBL.

"I haven't scored a whole heap of runs this season," he said.

"It's been frustrating for me to have pretty good stats in one-day cricket and then coming into T20 cricket, knowing what it takes but not being able to do it for our team or do it for our fans enough is disappointing.

"But thankfully the coach and the captain had a lot of faith in me and gave me another go. I've enjoyed that middle order role a couple of times this year now and happy to do what team needs."

The Heat only snuck into a top-four spot after winning their final regular-season game against the Scorchers. They have now completed half of their gruelling challenge of winning four knockout finals in nine days to claim the silverware for the first time since BBL|02.

Their hopes have been boosted further with the Scorchers losing hosting rights for Thursday's Challenger clash against the Heat after Perth went into lockdown in response to a COVID-19 case on Sunday and Cricket Australia rescheduled the match from Optus Stadium to Manuka Oval.

"It's a pretty daunting task, from that fourth or fifth position you know you're up against it, but you can play with freedom," said Heazlett.

"Every game could be your last one so you go out and enjoy it. We really thought if we made the finals that we could go all the way. As soon as we got to that it gave us a lot of confidence and we're really hitting our straps.

"(Not playing in Perth) is a massive result. It's a long plane trip, so it's good to stay here. Having a win here gives us some confidence, we look forward to it."

BBL|10 Finals Series
(all matches will screen on Channel 7, Fox Cricket & Kayo)

The Eliminator: Brisbane Heat (4) beat Adelaide Strikers (5) by six wickets

The Qualifier: Sydney Sixers (1) beat Perth Scorchers (2) by nine wickets

The Knock-Out: Brisbane Heat (4) beat Sydney Thunder (3) by seven wickets

The Challenger: Perth Scorchers (2) v Brisbane Heat (4). Thurs Feb 4, Manuka Oval, 7:40pm AEDT

The Final: Sydney Sixers v Winner of The Challenger. Sat Feb 6, SCG, 7.40pm AEDT