Twitter Reactions: Brisbane Heat outgun Melbourne Stars in a rain-marred encounter

The seventh-ranked Brisbane Heat managed to outgun the Melbourne Stars in a rain-marred 32nd encounter of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21. The intermittent showers at the Carrara Oval delayed the toss – or as it called, bat flip, winning which the Stars inserted Heat to bat. Setting the tone early, Chris Lynn slammed Sam Rainbird for 13 runs in the third over after the encounter was reduced to a 17-over affair. Max Bryant joined the party alongside Lynn during the 20-run fourth over of Haris Rauf.

The pick of the bowlers was Adam Zampa, who scripted mind-baffling figures of 2 for 7, in an encounter where each of his teammates gave away runs over 12 an over. The Heat lost their first wicket when Max Bryant (31 from 23) drove Adam Zampa and failed to clear Marcus Stoinis, who grabbed a brilliant catch at extra cover. Another sudden shower halted the proceedings and lasted long enough to reduce the match to 14 overs.

“Lynn”sanity powers Brisbane Heat to a daunting total

The match could resume only for three balls, two of which were slammed by Lynn for six off Maxwell, after which another stoppage led to a third reduction, this time trimming the match to a 10-over affair. Post-resumption, Maxwell finally had the last laugh when Lynn – after slamming three fours and four sixes in his 23-ball blitz of 48 – missed the ball entirely and got his stumps broken.

That was not to be it as Joe Burns showed no mercy during his 11-ball cameo of 22, which included three fours and a six. A 20-run final over bowled by Cartwright led the Heat to 115 for 3, and much like the opponent batsmen, the Duckworth Lewis had little mercy to show for Stars, whose target was revised to 130.

Steketee kills the chase after Stars’ positive start

Despite chasing a mammoth 13-run-per over, the target seemed well within Stars’ reach when Andre Fletcher and Marcus Stoinis started rebuking the bowlers. After the duo slapped Xavier Bartlett for 15 runs in the opening over to clarify their intentions, Jack Wildermuth and Mujeeb ur Rahaman did the damage control, giving only 2 and 7 runs in the following overs. Having added 42 for the first wicket with Stoinis, Fletcher fell to Mujeeb ur Rahman, thanks to some adroit on-field brilliance of Mark Steketee and Bartlett, who accomplished a relay catch close to the boundary.

Steketee’s double blow in the 5th over entirely killed the chase as he got the dangerous-looking Nicholas Pooran (16 from 5) caught by Gregory at deep square leg, whereas skipper Glenn Maxwell fell for a golden duck, holing out to Bartlett at long-on, a couple of balls later. Steketee returned in the 7th over to bag his third as Hilton Cartwright (7 from 3) picked Bryant at deep midwicket, soon after Stoinis (34 from 20) had edged Gregory to Peirson behind the wicket. Though Nick Larkin, who scored 35 from just 16, tried his best to take his team forward, the continuous falling of wickets from the other end led his efforts in vain.

Through their 18-run win (D/L method), the Heat have leapfrogged Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars to reach the 5th position in the table.