Bryant fireworks at Gabba shock Thunder into submission against well-rounded Heat

Asked to bat first, Sydney Thunder lost opener Oliver Davies early when he tried to lap Michael Neser in the third over and ended up edging it to the keeper instead. Nevertheless, David Warner and Matthew Gilkes ensured the team finished the powerplay strongly with four quick boundaries to push the score up to 31/1 at the end of four overs. The former ended up scoring three more fours in Mitchell Swepson’s opening over and Gilkes tried to join the party with a boundary off Spencer Johnson’s first ball, only to nick off the very next delivery. Things quickly went downhill for the Thunder thereafter as Sam Billings, Sherfane Rutherford, and Hugh Weibgen all departed cheaply even as Warner kept plugging away at the other end to take the score from 60/1 after 6.1 overs to 115/5 at the end of 13, forcing Thunder to opt for the Power Surge. However, things only went from bad to worse when the skipper also departed immediately after bringing up his second half-century of the season as did Chris Green an over later to leave the scoreboard reading 129/7. It took a 15-ball cameo for 23 from 41-year-old assistant coach Dan Christian, forced to overturn his two-year retirement following a plethora of injuries in the Thunder squad, and a rapid-fire 13 runs from Tom Andrews to take the team to a competitive 173/8 at the end of their quota. 

In response, Lockie Ferguson struck in the very first over courtesy of a wild Jack Woodheave before Christian continued his fairytale comeback by scalping a lapping Nathan McSweeney with the last ball of the powerplay to make the score read 23/2. Colin Munro tried to give the team some momentum with a maximum off Chris Green’s first ball to bring up 11,000 spells but a host of probing spells kept the Heat batters on a leash, eventually culminating in the Kiwi’s wicket for a 25-ball 23 in the ninth over. With the required run rate thus past 12 at the halfway mark of the chase, the hosts opted for an early Power Surge, a decision that flipped the game around. Max Bryant and Matt Renshaw combined for 32 runs in the next two overs, before adding another 16 in Andrews’ ensuing effort for good measure. The duo did not look back thereon and by the time Lockie finally got rid of Bryant after a scintillating 72 off 35, the Heat required just 22 to win at nearly run-a-ball. Wes Agar scalped Tom Alsop for compensation in the penultimate over but Renshaw and Neser ensured there were no more hiccups as they saw the team through with seven balls still in hand.

41-years-old Dan Christian, the assistant coach of Sydney Thunder and the player with the most BBL appearances, comes out of retirement due to multiple injuries in their squad – and smashes 23*(15) coming at number 8
Still got it #BBL14

— Peeyush Sharma (@peeyushsharmaa) January 6, 2025