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Renshaw fires as Heat stay alive

Left-hander produces highest BBL score as Heat keep season alive with win over Strikers

Brisbane Heat are still alive in BBL|08 after their victory at Adelaide Oval on Sunday night knocked the Strikers out of the tournament.

The Heat’s six-wicket win over the Strikers means the defending champions are out of the finals race and Perth's upset win over the Melbourne Stars later on Sunday means the Heat remain in the hunt for an unlikely finals' spot.

The loss for the Stars leaves three teams – the Stars, Heat and Thunder - within two points of each other in the race for the fourth and final play-off spot, with the Heat's final match of the regular season to be a pivotal clash with the Stars in Brisbane on Friday night.

Brilliant Renshaw guides Heat home

Matt Renshaw was the hero of the Heat’s impressive win over the Strikers, blazing 90no from 50 balls as he and Brendon McCullum (51 from 39) anchored their successful chase of Adelaide’s 8-176 with eight balls remaining.

Renshaw changed his reputation as a defensive long-form opener, cracking four sixes and nine fours, forcing renowned aggressor McCullum to play second fiddle.

Renshaw, batting at No,5, strode to the crease with an average of 12.71 and strike rate of 104.71 from seven previous games in this BBL tournament.

McCullum magic inspires Heat

He departed with the crowd wondering if this was the same man who was typecast as dour opening bat in longer formats.

He even collected a wicket; opening the bowling with his off-spinners, he dismissed Adelaide danger man Jake Weatherald.

But it was his astonishing feats with the bat that surprised: Renshaw clocked a half-century from only 26 balls and kept up the pace to officially end the Strikers' title defence.

"I'm still trying to get my head around it a little bit," he said.

"There were balls there that I thought I should hit ... this is up there - probably one of my best innings ever really."

Adelaide can't make the BBL playoffs, although the Heat will still likely miss out - they need to win their last match on Friday and have a plethora of other results fall their way.

Heat almost produce impossible catch

The Strikers will rue a missed chance to post a seriously large total - their 8-176 came after top-scorer Jon Wells (30 from 27 balls), Colin Ingram (28 from 21) and Alex Carey (24 from 24) failed to cash in.

Adelaide slipped to 5-92 after 13 overs but scored 84 runs from the final seven overs, with cameos from Harry Nielsen (21 from 16), Rashid Khan (19), Cameron Valente (19no) and Michael Neser (18).

Brisbane paceman Josh Lalor, after taking a hat-trick last game, claimed 3-25.

Strikers XI: Alex Carey (wk), Jake Weatherald, Jake Lehmann, Colin Ingram (c), Jonathan Wells, Harry Nielsen, Cameron Valente, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Ben Laughlin

Heat XI: Max Bryant, Chris Lynn (c), Brendon McCullum, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Ross, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Ben Cutting, Jack Prestwidge, Josh Lalor, Mitch Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann