Brisbane Heat pulled off one of the great late-overs heists of BBL, as Max Bryant and Xavier Bartlett combined for a breathtaking 66-run stand off just 25 balls to hand the previously undefeated Melbourne Stars their first loss of the season in a four-wicket thriller at the Gabba.
Chasing 196, the Heat looked gone when they slipped from 103 for 2 to 109 for 5 inside seven deliveries, but Bryant launched a fearless counterattack, hammering an unbeaten 48 off 26 balls. He should have been dismissed on 2 after edging Peter Siddle, but with the Stars failing to review, the right-hander made them pay in brutal style, smashing Haris Rauf for a six and a four in the final over to seal victory with two balls to spare.
Bartlett proved the perfect partner in crime, smashing 21* off 9 balls, including a towering straight six, as the pair tore apart Tom Curran and Rauf at the death. Earlier, Heat skipper Nathan McSweeney (43) and Matt Renshaw (41) had laid the foundation before a double-strike from Mitchell Swepson and Siddle’s experience tilted momentum back towards the Stars.
The visitors had earlier surged to 195 for 6, thanks to Marcus Stoinis’ controlled 43 and a late-overs burst from debutant Blake Macdonald, who blasted an unbeaten 37 off just 12 balls. Thomas Balkin and Bartlett impressed with the ball for the Heat, while Matt Kuhnemann’s 1 for 22 was the standout spell of the innings.
The result lifts the Heat to fourth on the table at 3-3, while the Stars suffer their first blemish of the campaign, and are left to rue the review that never was. For Bryant, though, it was a night to remember in front of a roaring Gabba crowd, sealing a chase that will sit among the great BBL finishes.
