BBL 2020-21: Match 7, THU vs HEA – Thunder’s record chase, Record knock by Sams and more stats

Sydney Thunder registered their first win of the BBL 2020-21 as they got the better of Brisbane Heat by four wickets at the Manuka Oval. Skipper Chris Lynn scored 69 from 44 balls to restrict yet another middle-order collapse of the Brisbane Heat. They eventually finished with 178/6 in their 20 overs thanks to an 11-ball 31 from Jack Wildermuth with four sixes.

Wildermuth later ran through the Thunder’s top-order which was reduced 22/3 before the 3rd over. Thunder didn’t lose many wickets in the middle-order which allowed Daniel Sams to smash an unbeaten 25-ball 69 with seven sixes and finished off the game with seven balls to spare. Sams struck four sixes in the penultimate over bowled by Ben Laughlin when they needed 24 to win.

Here are all the statistical highlights from Sydney Thunder’s thrilling chase during the THU vs HEA game:

Thunder’s record chase:

1 – Sydney Thunder’s 4-wicket win on Monday is their first victory while chasing against Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. Thunder won only two of the 11 BBL meetings against the Heat before this season; both while batting first. Sydney Thunder batted second on four occasions against the Brisbane Heat before the ongoing season and lost all by a margin of at least 15 runs.

179 – Sydney Thunder’s 179-run chase over Brisbane Heat is now their 2nd highest successful run-chase in the history of BBL. Their highest successful chase is 182 against the Perth Scorchers in the 2018-19 season.

Thunder’s fastest fifty:

23 – Daniel Sams brought up his fifty in only 23 balls which is now the fastest fifty in the BBL by any player for Sydney Thunder. The previous fastest BBL fifty for Thunder was recorded in 24 balls by Usman Khawaja against Adelaide Strikers in 2015-16 and also by Callum Ferguson in the 2018-19 season against the Perth Scorchers.

Record knock by Sams:

65* – The unbeaten 65 by Daniel Sams is now the 2nd highest score by any player in the Big Bash League while batting at No.7 and lower position. Beau Webster scored an unbeaten 67 while batting at No.7 for Hobart Hurricanes in 2016-17 against Adelaide Strikers.

7 – Daniel Sams became only the 4th player to hit seven or more sixes in a BBL inning for the Sydney Thunder. Sams’ innings is now the 30th in the BBL to involve seven or more sixes but the first to come from a player while batting outside the top five. In fact, no player batting at No.6 or lower in the BBL hit more than five sixes before Daniel Sams.

Lynn’s six-hitting feat in BBL:

152 – Chris Lynn now has hit as many as 152 sixes in the history of Big Bash League; 68 sixes more than the next best Aaron Finch (84). The THU vs HEA game was the 10th BBL match for Lynn where he has struck five or more sixes. No player other than Lynn has hit five or more sixes in a BBL inning more than five times.

A perfect all-round game for Wildermuth:

2 – Jack Wildermuth is now only the 8th player in the history of Big Bash League to score 30+ runs and also pick 3+ wickets in the same match. (Marcus Stoinis achieved this feat 4 times)

Wildermuth is also only the 2nd player with this double in the BBL for Brisbane Heat. James Hopes recorded this double in the 2012-13 season against Melbourne Stars where he 49 runs and claimed three wickets.

Lynn’s great record against Thunder:

6 – The 69-run knock during THU vs HEA game is now the 6th half-century in the Big Bash League for Chris Lynn. D’Arcy Short (6 fifties vs Adelaide Strikers) and Lynn are the only players to score as many as six fifties in the BBL against an opponent.

536 – Lynn has scored 536 runs in the BBL against the Sydney Thunder across 12 innings; the most number of runs for any player in the league history against an opponent. Lynn went past Aaron Finch’s tally of 503 runs which came against Melbourne Stars.

An expensive game with the ball for Laughlin:

3 – Ben Laughlin now has conceded 50+ runs on three occasions in the BBL – Twice for Brisbane Heat in 2020 and once for Adelaide Strikers in 2014-15. Laughlin is now only the 2nd bowler after Tom Curran (3) in the history of Big Bash League to concede 50+ runs in a match on three occasions.

56 – Ben Laughlin conceded 56 runs in the 3.5 overs he bowled during the THU vs HEA game; the 2nd most runs conceded by a bowler for the Brisbane Heat in a BBL game. The record for most runs conceded in a BBL game for Heat is held by Laughlin himself as he gave away 60 runs against Perth Scorchers in the previous season.

All-round show from Sams:

4 – Only for players including Daniel Sams have scored 65 or more in a BBL match where they took two or more wickets. Marcus Stoinis has three such games; all of them for the Melbourne Stars [99 & 3/38 vs Heat in 2017-18, 78* & 2/26 vs Renegades in 2018-19 and 70* & 3/19 also vs Renegades in 2018-19].

Chris Gayle (65 & 2/5 against Stars in 2013-14) and Jacques Kallis (70 & 2/24 against Stars in 2014-15) are the other two players in this list who also achieved it while representing Sydney Thunder.