It must be extremely frustrating to be a Brisbane Heat fan given their wonderful firepower with the bat at the top of their order, and yet seeing it peter out so tamely on so many occasions. It is spectacular when it comes off but as in their first round match when it fails it places so much pressure on the middle order to recover the situation. Having given up the opportunity to bat first, the Heat was then dismantled by a well drilled and persistent Hurricanes team that want to improve on last season’s semi-final finish.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman was terrific again for the Heat early, deceiving both Wade and Doolan to snare their wickets. His unpicked wrong ‘un to Doolan that crashed into middle stump was a pearler and is a continued delight to watch. Even when you watch his hand close up in slow motion on the TV you can see how difficult he would be to pick, and this format is perfect for him as batsmen have no time to settle in and get a good look at him. He also varies his pace so well that it would be hard to get sown the wicket at him. He is a joy to watch going at his art.
D’Arcy Short again showed his prowess at this level of cricket and saw off the spin threats of Mujeeb and Swepson, the art form that seems to trouble him most. He played the anchor for most of the innings with his 67 off 52 balls with some good hitting along the way. Ben McDermott also looked composed again, until he was run out for the 6th time in his last 13 innings. I’d be having a think about that if I was you Ben. Bailey and Milenko provided good contributions at the end, and the final score of 6/159 off 19 overs raised the Hurricanes above the Defendable Score Equatorial and put the pressure back on the Heat.
The unforgivable run out of Brendan McCullum in the second over of the chase was exactly what the Hurricanes wanted in reply, and though Max Bryant then went on the attack in admirable fashion it took one of the bow out of the Heat quiver. Bryant’s 30 off 15 deliveries was impressive but his dismissal unfortunate in its timing. It gave the momentum back to the Hurricanes, and the quick dismissals of Burns and Heazlett felt like the death knell. It stifled the ability of Lynn to attack without prejudice and eventually led to his downfall when the target blew out beyond the ordinary.
Two young veterans stole the final overs. Ben Cutting has retired from all forms of cricket apart from this, and these days it is usually his clean striking that is more dangerous than his bowling. He five sixes and two fours in his defiant 58 from 32 balls as he tried to run down the unobtainable total. James Faulkner’s return to the Hurricanes didn’t produce many runs but his bowling showed he can still do the job that won him the Man of the Match award ion the 2015 World Cup final. He took 3/25 to stop the tail from contributing to the cause at the end and showed a pleasing return from injury. He is a great pick up this season and will no doubt serve the Hurricanes well.
The Heat was bowled out for 144, and again had little come from their bats at the top that are electrifying when they come off, but that seems to be happening less and less often. Having lost both of their opening matches, and both at home, they are now behind the eight ball in this BBL season. They need to find a way to get totals of 160-180 rather than looking to belt their way to 200 and beyond and failing. Perhaps their batting pedigree doesn’t allow them that sort of humility in their batting. If they can’t find it then they are doomed to wander around the lower half of this tournament for the rest of the season which given their talent would be a waste and a shame for the viewing public.
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