HEA VS STA T20S

Right then, the monkey is off the back for Brisbane Heat and they have started the new season on the right foot. There's plenty more action to look forward to in the BBL as Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Renegades face off at the Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday, the 8th of December for Match number 2 of the competition. That game will begin at 1.45 pm IST (8.15 am GMT) but our build-up will begin much sooner. Do join us then. Cheers!

Colin Munro is the Player of the Match for his thunderous knock. He jokes that according to his bet with Glenn Maxwell if either one gets a fifty the other one has to treat him at KFC. He adds that it was nice to have Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne on the team and wishes them luck for their upcoming Test series. He ends by saying it was a good day to bat and he scored runs by targeting the shorter boundary.

The Presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Glenn Maxwell won the toss and put Brisbane Heat into bat on a wicket that looked pristine for batting. This decision backfired as the Heat batters put on a sublime show. Colin Munro batted right through the innings and the likes of Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Sam Billings and Max Bryant all came in and did a fine job. Munro stood out with an unbeaten 99 off just 61 balls and helped his side get well over the 200-run mark. With the ball, there wasn't much to write about the Stars but Nathan Coulter-Nile and Liam Dawson did do a decent job. Coming to the chase, the Heat bowlers were on fire and picked up wickets at regular intervals and in clusters as well to round off a big win.

End of a miserable opening night for Melbourne Stars as they not only lost the match by a huge margin, a couple of their big-name players picked up injuries as well. Chasing 215 for the win, they had to go big from the start but the fall of Thomas Rogers and Sam Harper in the very first over, dented their hopes big time. Glenn Maxwell then came in and turned on the heat but was feeling a bit of pain in the right forearm and ended up giving his wicket away. Joe Burns stuck around for a while whereas Marcus Stoinis departed very early. Only Hilton Cartwright was able to offer some sort of a fightback in the second half of the chase but they were thoroughly beaten.

A statement victory from last season's runners-up Brisbane Heat and BBL 2023-24 is off to an exciting start! After five successive first-game losses in the BBL, the Heat have managed to win their opening encounter and not just that, it is their biggest win by a margin of runs in the tournament as well. After putting a mammoth score of 214 runs on the board, the Heat needed a couple of early wickets to have a real grip on the game and they did just that. Michael Neser bowled the first over and just like that, sent both the Stars' openers back to the hut. They faced a bit of resistance for the next 5 overs or so but Mitchell Swepson got the big wicket of Glenn Maxwell and that opened the floodgates for the Heat. The spin duo of Swepson and Matthew Kuhnemann ruled the roost in the middle overs and then the likes of Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett came back in to close out the innings. Swepson too came back in and picked up the final wicket, ending up with three in the kitty.

OUT! TIMBER! Mitchell Swepson has sealed the deal for his team. Tossed up and straight on the stumps. Olly Stone tries to sweep it but has completely misread the line. The ball crashes into the stumps and Brisbane Heat have been rewarded with their biggest win in the history of this tournament.

Slow and full on the off pole. Olly Stone drives it to long on and takes a single. He will keep the strike in the next over.

Hits the surface harder on a shorter length, angling down the leg side, Nathan Coulter-Nile swivels towards the deep backward square for a single.

Nathan Coulter-Nile does walk out to bat, interesting. He does have a runner though.

OUT! TAKEN! Xavier Bartlett strikes twice in the same over! He bowls another slow ball on length. Joel Paris pulls it towards deep square leg but hasn't got the distance. Paul Walter comes in and takes a nice low catch to dismiss Paris. One wicket to go now for Brisbane Heat.

Xavier Bartlett bowls a slower delivery and bangs the surface, the ball angles away from Joel Paris as he swings his blade hard and misses all of it.

On length and around off. Olly Stone pushes it on the off side and takes a single.

Olly Stone is the next man in for Melbourne Stars. He might also be the last man in with Nathan Coulter-Nile nursing an injury. On the contrary, Coulter-Nile is padded up!

OUT! TAKEN! Xavier Bartlett strikes! He bowls it full and slow on the off pole. Usama Mir changes his stance looking to go over the keeper but didn't get the elevation needed. The ball traveled as far as short fine leg man Mitchell Swepson takes a safe catch.

Tossed up outside off. Usama Mir slaps it to long off for a single to end the over.