McSweeney fires Heat to thrilling win after Test omission

Nathan McSweeney put his Test omission behind him to not just front up for his BBL side but also guide them to a thrilling win as Brisbane Heat beat Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba on Sunday (December 22). McSweeney remained unbeaten on 78 in the run chase and ensured Strikers' fightback in the final two overs went in vain.

McSweeney walked out to bat as early as in the second over of the run chase as Heat's openers were sent packing for single-digit scores by Henry Thornton. While he took time to settle initially, Matt Renshaw took charge as he hit Cameron Boyce for a couple of sixes to push the scoring rate.

Renshaw took the attack to the opposition with McSweeney being just a mere spectator at the other end. In the process, the left-hander brought up a 24-ball fifty to give his side momentum around the halfway mark. However, all that momentum dropped off pretty quickly when Lloyed Pope got rid of Renshaw and Max Bryant in successive overs, thus putting the onus on McSweeney to guide Heat home.

The No.3 was quite up to the task though as he took the game deep to bring the equation down to 55 from the last 5 overs before taking on Thornton for four boundaries in an over to not only switch the momentum again, but also to bring up his fifty. He even hit a couple of sixes including a lap shot that just highlighted how quick he was to switch to T20 mode having just played the Gabba Test a few days ago.

His assault brought the equation down to 13 off 12 with victory firmly in sight. But Strikers did well to keep McSweeney off strike in the final two overs and have a crack at the other end where they picked a couple of wickets. McSweeney did get strike when his team needed 4 off 3 and he brought it down to 1 off 1. With the fielders inside the circle to prevent the single, Mitchell Swepson managed to clear them somehow, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Earlier in the evening, Strikers needed a strong finish from Jamie Overton and James Bazley to breach the 170-mark which didn't look anywhere in sight for the majority of the innings. D'Arcy Short and Matthew Short departed early and even though Chris Lynn and Ollie Pope repaired the innings, the run rate was barely hovering over 6. To make matters worse, Lynn departed around the halfway mark and the well-set Pope couldn't carry on to bat deep into the innings.

Overton then took charge to hammer a huge six over long off to bring up Strikers' 100 and with Alex Ross getting run out, the onus was on the Englishman to fire at the death. Alongside Bazley, Overton plundered a few handy boundaries in the slog overs and remained unbeaten on 45 off 24 to give his side a powerful finish, which wasn't enough by the barest of margins.

Brief scores:

• Adelaide Strikers: 174/6 in 20 overs (Jamie Overton 45*)
• Brisbane Heat: 175/7 in 20 overs (Nathan McSweeney 78*, Matt Renshaw 54; Lloyd Pope 2/17) by 3 wickets