Inside the makings of Wildermuth's BBL miracle: 'Just wanted to get off the mark'

Two days after his heroics in the BBL's biggest ever run chase, Jack Wildermuth was quite understandably still in a state of disbelief over the surreal events at the Gabba where Brisbane Heat mowed down Perth Scorchers' seemingly impregnable total of 257 for 6.

In an astonishing game, where a slew of batting records were broken, Wildermuth and Matt Renshaw etched their names in BBL lore with brutal centuries as they combined for the highest partnership (212) in the competition's history.

Wildermuth, a seam-bowling allrounder whose previous highest BBL score was just 31 from 31 previous innings, had something akin to an out of body experience in the most remarkable innings of a professional career spanning over a decade.

He finished 110 not out from 54 balls, belting nine sixes along the way, and hit the winning runs to lift Heat to a miraculous eight-wicket victory with a ball to spare.

"I don't think it's sunk in, I'm still trying to catch up on some sleep," chuckled Wildermuth, speaking to ESPNcricinfo while en route to Canberra for Heat's game against Sydney Thunder on Monday.

"I have had a lot of people reach out. Some of my friends and family were at the game, which was really awesome. I've also certainly had a lot of people from my cricket club contact me, which has been nice."

Wildermuth, 32, has become an unlikely hero. Before this season, he had been on the outer of Heat's squad with his last BBL game being on January 1, 2022, where he batted at No. 7 against Hobart Hurricanes having been brought on as an x-factor player under the old rules.

But the big-hitting ability of Wildermuth, a three-format player for Heat and Queensland, had the team's hierarchy intrigued as they looked to emulate champions Hurricanes' spectacular success of moving Mitch Owen - also a seam-bowling allrounder - up the batting order to cause mayhem in the powerplay.

The seed was planted at the end of last season's BBL with Heat's batting misfiring in a disappointing title defence where they missed finals. "I reckon there's a real opportunity for you to have an impact at the top," Heat coach Johan Botha told Wildermuth at the time. "We need you to try to get us off to fliers."

"Absolutely, that sounds great. I've been working towards this myself for a number of years. Can we sit down and plan it out?" Wildermuth responded.

The plan was hatched with Wildermuth spending a chunk of his off-season preparing and devising ways to cause destruction as a T20 opener. In what was essentially a trial run, Wildermuth opened for Valley in Queensland's T20 Max in what proved a resounding success. He was the competition's leading run-scorer with 472, highlighted by a blistering 159 not out from 70 balls - including 12 sixes - against Northern Suburbs.

It made Botha contemplate promoting Wildermuth to open for Queensland in the One-Day Cup but decided to keep him at No. 7. Wildermuth's confidence in his game was underlined by back-to-back half-centuries to start the 50-over competition, including smashing 74 off 49 balls against Western Australia at Allan Border Field in September.

Somewhat foreshadowing what was ahead, Wildermuth helped conjure an unlikely chase with Queensland running down the 323-run target after being 38 for 4. He whacked a half dozen sixes against an attack that featured Scorchers bowlers Joel Paris and Ashton Agar.

"That innings definitely gave me a lot of confidence," Wildermuth said. "Since the off-season I just really worked on having a solid plan and backing my process, so I entered the BBL with belief."

The bright lights of the BBL, however, loomed as an entirely different challenge and the experiment did not start well with Wildermuth falling for a second ball duck in Heat's 14-run defeat to Melbourne Renegades in Geelong.

By the midway point against Scorchers, Heat were staring down the barrel having conceded the second highest BBL total in history. All five of Heat's bowlers conceded more than 11 runs an over, including Wildermuth who finished with 1 for 47 from 4 overs.

Heat's slim hopes were made even more difficult with captain Nathan McSweeney unable to bat due to an ankle injury sustained late in Scorchers' innings. Heat, obviously, needed to start with a slew of belligerent blows in the powerplay but Wildermuth had more simple goals.

"To be honest, I just wanted to get off the mark after my second ball dismissal last game," he laughed.

Heat's embarrassing night continued when Colin Munro fell on the first ball of the innings before Wildermuth and Renshaw turned the game on its head. They threw the bat effectively to rattle the normally disciplined Scorchers.

Renshaw was caught on 20 but reprieved due to Jhye Richardson overstepping while Wildermuth received a life on 42 when he hit high in the sky only for skipper Ashton Turner to drop a straightforward chance.

Amid a blaze of sixes the Heat sped to 131 for 1 at the halfway mark of the innings and suddenly the implausible seemed possible much to the delight of an increasingly febrile 25,000 crowd.

"Chasing it down wasn't really in my head at first, but at the halfway mark the run rate was in check and we had wickets in hand. So I started having some faith," Wildermuth said.

Heat stormed into favouritism when they belted 42 runs across the 11th and 12th overs as Renshaw shortly afterwards raced to his century before several late twists in one of the most dramatic BBL endings of all-time.

With Heat needing 47 off 27 balls, Renshaw was run-out after a mix-up turning back for the second run before Wildermuth regrouped to notch a memorable first BBL century.

In a blur, Heat suddenly needed just two off two balls but Max Bryant had to retire hurt after injuring his shoulder while running between the wickets. "I didn't even know what Max had done to be honest. I saw him walk off and I was just trying to catch my breath," Wildermuth said.

It brought Hugh Weibgen, 21, to the crease but Wildermuth had the strike. "You've just got to run, brother," he instructed Weibgen.

With Scorchers requiring an additional player inside the fielding restriction circle due to slow over rates, Wildermuth anticipated that allrounder Aaron Hardie would bowl full outside the off stump. He quickly moved into position and shovelled through backward point to trigger bedlam around the Gabba.

"To actually achieve that was pretty amazing," Wildermuth said. "You're in a bubble when you're out there, but just running towards the bench and seeing the emotion from the guys was special.

"I couldn't move much afterwards, my legs were cramping and I was pretty cooked. Took a couple hours for the body to come back, but the celebration was great and I wasn't able to get much sleep till the early hours of the morning."

Wildermuth has undoubtedly gained many new fans, some of whom may be surprised to find out that he played two T20Is in 2018 during a tri-series in Zimbabwe that also featured Pakistan.

While international cricket is not on the forefront of his mind, Wildermuth's unforgettable knock has him believing that anything is possible.

"That would be a dream to again represent Australia in T20 cricket," he said. "Who knows if there's some sort of opportunity down the track. We'll wait and see, but I feel confident I could do well at that level if given a chance.

"I feel like my cricket is in the best place it has ever been."