Classy bowling from the Brisbane Heat has led them to a 20-run win at Manuka Oval
Match Report:
ScorecardBrisbane turn on the Heat against Thunder in Canberra
The Brisbane Heat have continued their undefeated start to the KFC BBL season with a comfortable 20-run win against the Sydney Thunder in Canberra.
A classy 46 from in-form opener Colin Munro and clinical bowling from their disciplined bowling attack saw the visitors cruise to victory on Tuesday night.
Only a late flurry from lower-order Thunder batter Chris Green (30 off 20 balls) restored respectability to the scoreboard, giving the Heat just the smallest of scares having had their opposition buried at 6-80 in their pursuit of 7-151.
They moved to 2-0 for the season having backed up their opening night win against the Melbourne Stars, with their second clash against Adelaide washed out.
Four different Heat bowlers picked up multiple wickets, led by Xavier Bartlett's 3-35 and a brilliant 2-26 from spinner Mitch Swepson that included the prized scalps of Cameron Bancroft and Daniel Sams.
The Thunder had lost opener Alex Hales for a golden duck with just the third ball of the innings as Michael Neser found an edge to slip, and Matt Gilkes joined him in the fourth over by lifting Bartlett to short fine leg.
New Sydney man Cameron Bancroft looked to hit the ground running when he hit his first ball as a Thunder player to the boundary on his way to 25 off 19.
But Swepson trapped him plumb lbw as he looked to take control leaving the Thunder in a hole at 3-53.
It got even worse courtesy of a stunning catch from Neser, who ran a long distance and put in a full-stretch dive to get rid of Alex Ross and leave them 4-56.
Only Ollie Davies (35 off 30), who earlier took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Josh Brown, put up some fight for the Thunder.
Earlier, an impressive spell from Thunder spinner Tanveer Sangha helped his side restrict the Heat.
His tight lines cramped up the Heat batters with his 3-21 featuring the vital wickets of Nathan McSweeney (29), Matt Renshaw (20) and Paul Walter (6).
Heat opener Colin Munro backed up his 99 not out from his first knock of the season against the Melbourne Stars with another 44 against the Thunder.
BBL debutant Zaman Khan (2-31) got in on the act late, bowling Billings and Michael Neser in the one over with an unorthodox slinging action that delighted fans in Canberra.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
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