Sams stays on the level as Ponting slams 'pathetic' Heat

Having scored more runs in 40 minutes on Monday night than he did in 15 innings last season, the Sydney Thunder's Daniel Sams may have finally unlocked the secret to unleashing his big-hitting talents in the KFC BBL.

And Sams has done so with the guidance of Aussie great Ricky Ponting, who tweaked the right-hander's technique during their time together at the IPL this year and keenly watched his student's match-winning heroics against the Brisbane Heat in Canberra.

Sams was the Big Bash's leading wicket-taker last season but had a tortured campaign with the bat, unable to score in his first four trips to the middle and finishing the season with just 55 runs from 15 innings.

And having been dismissed for another first-ball duck in the Thunder's season opener on Saturday, Sams joked that his main goal against the Heat on Monday night was to simply get off the mark.

But he did much, much more than that, blasting an unbeaten 65 from just 25 balls that included four sixes in the penultimate over of a match the Thunder seemingly had no right to win but did with seven balls to spare.

However, just as Sams learned following the batting struggles of last season, just as he did after India's Hardik Pandya got a hold of the left-armer's bowling on his international debut 10 days ago, he's trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Confidence is a funny thing," he said after the Thunder's four-wicket win. "One of the things I've been working on is to keep my confidence nice and level and not let my confidence from my performances shoot up or shoot low. I'm trying to stay nice and level and that way I'm able to come into every game feeling the same about it.

"(Last season) was more a mental game. I know – without this sounding bad – that I'm good enough at this level with my batting.

"I just wasn't switched on mentally and I let the occasion get the better of me. And it was the same last game (on Saturday); I tried to hit the ball (big) first ball.

"I just (needed to) give myself a chance, take it deep and give myself the best opportunity to get the guys over the line."

Sams' match-winning effort was watched closely by his IPL coach Ponting, who wasn't at Manuka Oval on Monday night but called the game from the Seven Network studio in Melbourne.

The former Aussie skipper praised his Delhi Capitals player for "almost singlehandedly (getting) your team across the line", but he was equally as scathing of the Heat's bowling and tactics, which Shane Warne also labelled "horrific".

"This has been absolutely pathetic bowling," Ponting said after Sams launched yet another boundary onto his favoured leg side of the ground. 

"Pathetic planning and pathetic bowling. He's 59 not out off 24 balls and would he have 10 runs on the off side? They've bowled exactly where he wants them."

Ponting has more recent experience than most when it comes to Sams' batting after the pair worked together in the UAE, with the former Test skipper teaching the right-hander to get his hands up earlier in his shot to generate more power and help him access more areas of the ground.

With a tweaked technique in mind, Sams said he focused on simply staying still at the crease and hoping Heat veteran Ben Laughlin missed his mark in a pivotal 19th over of the innings.

"If he was going to miss, I wanted to try and finish it that over," he said. "You don't want to let it get to the last over because anything can happen.

"Luckily enough Ben missed; he doesn't usually miss, he's a very good bowler, so we were lucky that he missed a few and I was able to get them over the rope. I was just trying to be still and get them over the rope.

"I obviously grew up watching Ricky playing pull shots and hitting the ball everywhere, so it was awesome to be able to work with him.

"He really instilled some confidence in me, and we worked on a couple of technical things that have obviously worked for me."