‌BBL 2023 | Heat extend win-streak after Hurricanes fail to nail humdinger in rain-curtailed affair

In the quest to break the Brisbane Heat’s winning streak, skipper Nathan Ellis won the toss and elected to field first. The openers, Colin Munro and Josh Brown, set off to a watchful start with limited boundaries, gathering just 23 runs inside the mandatory powerplay. In an attempt to up the ante, Brown got outfoxed by Nikhil Chaudhary in the final ball of the sixth over. The Heat lost another wicket before the Drinks Break as Nathan McSweeney was struck plumb in front by a full Ellis delivery. Subsequently, the visitors bowled brilliantly and were able to exert pressure on the opposition, denying them a boundary for a period of 52 deliveries. The middle order that included Matt Renshaw and Sam Billings failed to get going against the pace and bounce, but Colin Munro’s 47-ball 56 and Paul Walter’s 21-ball 22 helped them reach 132/7 at the end of the innings. All the three Hurricanes’ pacers were economical with Jordan being the pick of all with a three-fer followed by Ellis’ double scalps.

In reply, the Hurrianes lost quick wickets as Michael Neser and Xavier Bartlett spit venom with the new ball, reducing the opposition to 22/4 after 3.3 overs. Ben McDermott tried to graft from one end but soon the rain followed and after a brief pause, the play got reduced to a 16-per-side contest with 118 as the revised target for the visitors. The wicketkeeper-batter’s stay was short-lived as Paul Walter got the better of him in the ninth over, leaving the 'canes struggling at 56/5. Tim David (27) and Nikhil Chaudhary entered the fray, dragging the chase to the slog overs with a 46-run sixth wicket stand before the former got dismissed by Spencer Johnson in the third ball of the penultimate over. Chaudhary’s valiant 55 off 38 balls maneuvered the chase to the ultimate over with 13 needed from six deliveries. After piling eight runs from the first couple of balls, Chaudhary was dismissed and the tailenders failed to gather 5 off the final three deliveries, eventually losing by a run.

 Hear won at the end!

Too good

Special effort

Superb fight back

Unstoppable

He is just too good!

Brilliant

1st of many!

Proper thriller

Unbelievable