Brisbane Heat beat Sydney Sixers to advance to BBL Final

The Brisbane Heat entered the Big Bash Final thanks to a batting masterclass from fast bowler Michael Nether who helped overturn the Sydney Sixers by four wickets.

Thursday night’s win caps off a remarkable turnaround from the Heat, who sat last on the BBL ladder in the second week of January, winning seven of their eight games.

Brisbane will play their second Grand Final appearance against Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium on Saturday.

Without India-bound talisman Steve Smith, the Sixers struggled 9-116 on a tricky SCG wicket.

However, with the loss of Test stars Ousmane Khawadja, Marnus Rabshagne and Matt Renshaw, the Heat’s victory was not guaranteed, and they lost 3-10 before falling to 5-56 and threatening to contain the chase. rice field.

In a game of even keel, Nether (48 knots out) hit Hayden Carr on four consecutive boundaries at the over to define the game and seal one of BBL’s great upsets with 10 balls left.

“We were lucky that it worked out,” Nessel said.

“I’m usually pretty nervous, but it could have been the last game of the season, so I really thought it was all or nothing.”

Bats have struggled at SCG all summer, with Brisbane’s Matthew Kühnemann (3-17) and Spencer Johnson (3-28) posting their best numbers of their BBL careers when the hosts turned at bat.

After breaking a promising opening partnership by catching Curtis Patterson (19), spinner Kuehnemann took out insane opener Josh Philippe (16) and skipper Moises Henriquez (4) in the space of two overs. Earned.

A quick dismissal forced the Sixers to get back in shape and never get moving again, managing a 2-8 with a power surge and failing to hit a 6 all night.

In his final game at the SCG, Johnson denied Dan Christian (7) fairy tales before catching and bowling Hayden Carr (16), the Sixers’ last recognized hitter.

Sixers oddball Daniel Hughes missed most of the summer, top-scoring with 23.

“We looked like we hit the wicket at the right time, but their hitters didn’t look like they were rolling,” Nether said.

The Heat found the line easier than the Sixers early on, announcing their intent when Josh Brown hit Steve O’Keeffe in the sixth in a row.

Sam Heaslet, one of three substitutes for the Heat’s test players, sneaked a single at Misfield only to find himself running and causing the collapse. In 21-ball space, the Heat also lost Brown (20 balls) and Nathan McSweeney (5 balls), both caught by Phillippe.

All it took was a run-a-ball All that could stop the heat was losing more scalps, and another of the reinforcements, Max Bryant, made a game-best 30-run partnership with the Nether. built.

Just as they started to move forward in their biggest partnership of the night, Bryant (11) sent the ball into the air with a power surge and was caught.

But Nessel didn’t falter and put the equation squarely in the Heat’s favor, hitting 16 runs off four balls.

He had the biggest score of his BBL career when he threw the ball for a long time.

The Sixers’ playoff campaign ended in straight sets after losing in the qualifying final against the Scorchers last week.

Henriquez said: “I had two cracks on my way to the final, but unfortunately neither was good enough.

“I’m still very proud of what we’ve achieved as a team throughout the season.”