BBL 5 Match 29 Review: Lynn, Badree turn up the Heat at MCG

Brisbane Heat skipper Chris Lynn went berserk at the ‘G’ and his brutal hitting power again stole the show as his made 7-188 from their 20 overs against Melbourne Stars. The total proved sufficient as leg-spinner bowled a magnificent spell to crush the Stars early in their innings.

Lynn was out by the eighth over but not before he had spanked 56 from just 24 balls. He took 30 from one Ben Hilfenhaus over with five consecutive sixes that deflated the home team to no end. Opener Jimmy Peirson was out first ball to the spin of Michael Beer in the match’s opening over, bringing the in-form Lynn to the crease.

The right-hander, who is the leading run-scorer in this edition of the BBL and a prime contender for a T20I call-up for Australia’s upcoming series against India, took 16 from one Dan Worrall over, with two sixes, before launching into Hilfenhaus in an extraordinary display of hitting. His sixes, from ball 2 through 6 off the pacer’s first over averaged 93 meters. West Indian Lendl Simmons continued his return to form, making 44 from 35, but Lynn’s dismissal – Adam Zampa had him caught at long off – resulted in a drop in the scoring rate.

Joe Burns made 27 from 28 to keep the innings ticking along but the Stars fought hard to wrest some control back to proceedings, Zampa (2-31 from four) particularly effective as he also had Burns caught on the boundary. Hilfenhaus knocked over Simmons and then flummoxed Nathan Reardon (25 from 19) to make a strong return following the Lynn pasting, as some late runs from Ben Cutting and James Hopes amid a flurry of late wickets got the visitors to a total they defended comfortably.

Badree dismissed Luke Wright off the 3rd ball of the innings and set the ball rolling for his team. His second over witnessed 2 fours and 2 huge wickets. Kevin Pietersen was out LBW looking to slog across the line while Marcus Stoinis failed to get underneath a typical quicker one from the leggie and gave a simple catch to cutting at mid-off.

The run-chase was all but over by the end of 5th over; Badree’s 3rd. Peter Handscomb and Rob Quiney were dismissed off successive deliveries at the end of the over to give the Trinidad a well-deserved five-for. The hatrick ball, the first of the 7th over, was safely negotiated by home team’s skipper David Hussey who steadied the innings adding 59 runs for the 6^th wicket with Evan Gulbis.

Hussey was looking good on 25 off 23 however a top-edged sweep off Mitchell Swepson brought his downfall. Gulbis tried his best to get as many as possible for his team keeping the net run rate in mind for semi-final qualification. His unbeaten half century included 8 fours and one maximum as he ensured some respectability to the team’s total. Swepson finished with 2 wickets and so did Josh Lalor as the visitors registered a commanding 56-run win.

Brief Scores:

Brisbane Heat: 188/7 in 20 overs (C Lynn 56; A Zampa 2/11)

Melbourne Stars: 132/9 in 20 overs (E Gulbis 61*; S Badree 5/22)

Man of the match: Samuel Badree (Brisbane Heat)