McSweeney and Brown shine as Heat win run-fest
Sixers fall narrowly short despite Vince, Silk, Kerr cameos
AAP
01-Jan-2023
Josh Brown and Nathan McSweeney put up a stand of 73 off 33 balls • Getty Images
Brisbane Heat 224 for 5 (McSweeney 84, Brown 62) beat Sydney Sixers 209 (Silk 41, Vince 41, Neser 3-41) by 15 runs
Josh Brown makes his own bats and he can wield them too after lighting up the Gabba to inspire the Brisbane Heat's 15-run win over the Sydney Sixers with a whirlwind half-century.
The match had a sensational finish when Heat allrounder Michael Neser caught Sixers' Jordan Silk (41 off 23 balls) in the 19th over just inside the boundary rope, threw it in the air, went outside the field of play and then tossed it up again while airborne. He then completed the catch inside the boundary rope - all within the rules - as Sixers got close to achieving a BBL record run chase.
The 29-year-old Brown earlier produced his whirlwind innings to score 62 off just 23 balls in the Heat's 224 for 5.
Sixers made a gallant response in their pursuit on a night of pure batting entertainment but fell short to be all out from the final delivery.
Heat needed something special to get their season moving and Brown provided it in front of 23,689 fans while using a Cooper Cricket bat. He brought up his fifty in just 19 deliveries, the equal fifth fastest in Heat history in just his second BBL game.
Brown cleared the boundary six times with an assortment of scintillating strokes, including one lofted cover drive off Jackson Bird that had class written all over it. He works with Cooper Cricket founder Rod Grey. He has crafted hundreds of Cooper bats himself, and repaired thousands.
"That is my full-time job outside of cricket," Brown told Fox Cricket after his knock. "I make my own bats. It is pretty fun I do most of the repairs for the [Heat] boys."
Brown has been in scintillating form for his Brisbane club side Norths this season, but said he didn't know he was any good at cricket until he was 24. T20 franchises around the world will no doubt be making further enquiries about him. "I just found my new favourite player," Adam Gilchrist said in commentary.
Allrounder Nathan McSweeney (84 off 51 balls) kept Brown's momentum going with a superbly paced maiden BBL half-century to lift the Heat to their best score in their BBL history.
Sixers openers Josh Philippe and James Vince took a club record 54 runs off the four overs of the power play in pursuit. Silk and allrounder Hayden Kerr added 54 in 26 balls for the sixth wicket but the brilliant stumping of Kerr by Jimmy Peirson off spinner Matt Kuhnemann proved crucial.
Neser's catch to dismiss Silk was the decisive moment in the run chase after he took 3 for 41 with the ball.