By Aaryan Shah – Sports Writer
The Sydney Thunder recorded a comfortable victory against the Brisbane Heat last night winning by 7 wickets in Canberra.
Thunder bowlers Gurinder Sandhu and Nathan McAndrew returned home from their Sheffield Shield states eager to replicate their red ball form in the shortest format. Both impressed with Sandhu taking 2-17 and McAndrew taking 2-33. Fellow New South Welshman Daniel Sams chipped in with 3-22 from his four.
English Import Ben Duckett looked good with 46 for the Heat whilst Sam Heazlett got 42. One surprise contribution was Heat fast bowler Xavier Bartlett. The tailender scored an entertaining 26 off 16 balls which included 3 fours and 1 six to lift the Heat to a more respectable total of 140. Chris Lynn (9), new Heat captain Jimmy Peirson (3) and all-rounder James Bazley (1) all missed out.
The Thunder’s chase couldn’t have got off to a worse start with Xavier Bartlett (1-20) getting rid of BBL 10s leading run scorer Alex Hales for a second ball duck, capping off a brilliant all-round game. Sam Whitman and Matthew Gilkes then got together for a 28-run partnership before the Heat’s new WA recruit Liam Guthrie (2-32) quickly removed both of them. From then on it was all Thunder with player of the match Alex Ross (61 not out) and English import Sam Billings (44 not out) putting on an unbeaten 109 run stand helping the Thunder cruise to a 7-wicket victory with 17 balls remaining.
Is the Heat’s season over already or are they just warming up? Let us know in the comments section below.
Aaryan Shah is a Sports Writer for The Pioneer Australia. He’s mad for Cricket and AFL, and is also an Australian representative at Boccia.
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