Heat in semis after Pomersbach assault

Luke Pomersbach's brutal assault at the top of the order fired Brisbane Heat to the semi-final of the BBL as they dished out an eight-wicket mauling to Hobart Hurricanes at the Bellerive Oval. Pomersbach smashed 82 off just 42 balls as Heat overhauled the 151-run target in the 15th over to get the much-needed win which put them on equal points with Hurricanes and Adelaide strikers, but their superior run rate helped them set up a semi-final clash with Melbourne Renegades.

Pomersbach set about the chase at a frenetic pace on a sticky Hobart pitch and was particularly severe on Doug Bollinger and Jason Krejza. While Bollinger was taken for 27 off his first two overs, Krejza leaked 31 from his two.

Pomersbach brought up his half-century off 24 balls, the fastest fifty of this year's competition, and hit 13 fours and two sixes. Bollinger removed the other opener, Peter Forrest, early, but a 107-run stand in less than 10 overs between Pomerbach and Joe Burns ended Hurricanes' tournament.

"We're the underdogs now,'' Pomersbach said on the team's entry to the knockouts. "We're going in there, we're going to give it everything and I've got a really good feeling about it.''

"We probably misjudged the wicket a little bit although I think it probably suited their bowlers, that sort of slow medium pace,'' Hurricanes captain Tim Paine said.

Hurricanes chose to bat first and made a steady start with a 47-run opening partnership, but the scoring rate stayed below seven for almost three-quarters of the innings. Only some late aggression by Jonathan Wells - 40 off 24- and Owais Shah, 32 off 28, helped the team to get to 150. James Hopes was miserly in his bowling, giving away 18 off four overs, while Dan Christian picked up two wickets.