A focus on changing gears and running between the wickets sparked David Warner's side to their first win of BBL|15
Homework pays off for Thunder's new opening combination
A "homework" task from their batting coach reaped instant rewards for young opening duo Sam Konstas and Matthew Gilkes as their 127-run stand put Sydney Thunder on course for their first win of KFC BBL|15.
Konstas (63 off 45 balls) hit his career-best T20 score and Gilkes (76 off 48) top scored as the pair put on the second highest partnership in the Thunder's BBL history to lead their 4-193 against Brisbane Heat in Canberra on Monday night.
The Heat came back down to earth after their record run chase last Friday, never seriously challenging the Thunder's total as they fell short by 34 runs to slip to their second defeat of the season.
The win lifted the Thunder off the bottom of the standings after going down to Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Sixers in their opening two games.
Gilkes (20 and 12) and Konstas (28 and 2) had both got going in the Thunder's first two matches but failed to kick on as they were dismissed each time trying to find the boundary.
It was after the Sydney Smash loss that their captain David Warner – who has dropped down to give his side a left-hander in the middle order this season – said the pair were challenged by the Thunder coaching staff to take a different approach in how they constructed their innings.
"I tell you what I'm impressed with; it wasn't just their striking, it was the homework," Warner said while mic'd up on Channel Seven during the Heat's innings.
"The batting coach put something on them and they finally listened, which is fantastic.
"We spoke about them just batting their way and being a bit smart when they're in and changing their gears, and the way they ran hard between wickets and weren't looking for the boundary as their first option.
"They ran well, they gelled really well together and that's the perfect blueprint for them to bat for the rest of the season.
"It was an even tempo, just good cricket shots … and it was a fantastic partnership."
Thunder ran 18 twos against the Heat on Monday night – the most of any team in an innings so far this season and the equal third most in a single game in the club's BBL history.
"I feel like I was hitting the ball pretty well in the first two games but was just getting a little bit carried away," Gilkes said after their win over the Heat.
"I feel like (this game) I ran better between the wickets and just went through the gears a lot better.
"As a batting group we had a good chat about a lot of us getting out trying to hit sixes, so I think running between the wickets was the best thing for us.
"We picked up a lot of twos and it just took a lot of pressure off us, and we didn't feel like we had to do too much."
Canberra "holds a special place" in Gilkes heart as it's where he played club cricket and Second XI for ACT as a teenager before moving to Sydney where he debuted for the Thunder as a 19-year-old before earning a rookie contract with NSW a few months later.
And the now 26-year-old hopes the nation's capital could also be the catalyst for getting the Thunder's BBL|15 campaign back on track as they seek to go one better than their runners-up finish last season.
Gilkes and the Thunder are back in Canberra for their next game when they face the ladder-leading Melbourne Stars on December 28.
"With a 10-game tournament now, it's good to get some wins early – the first two games didn't go our way so it's nice to get a win here in the third game and hopefully we can keep building from that," he said.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
STA
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.541 | 0 | 4 |
|
2
HUR
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.45 | 0 | 4 |
|
3
SIX
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.569 | 0 | 2 |
|
4
SCO
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.365 | 0 | 2 |
|
5
THU
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -0.258 | 0 | 2 |
|
6
STR
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -0.376 | 0 | 2 |
|
7
HEA
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -0.755 | 0 | 2 |
|
8
REN
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1.331 | 0 | 2 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points