10.25 pm So Heat lose 7 of their first 9 games, but then surge into the playoffs after the return of Khawaja and Labuschagne from international duty. They've now won two playoff matches in a row with both Khawaja and Labuschagne playing key roles, but if they're going to beat Sydney Sixers in the Challenger Final on Thursday, they'll have to do it without Khawaja and Labuschagne. Similarly the Sixers will be without Steven Smith, arguably the most in-form batter in the tournament at the moment. Not sure what that will mean for the level of quality that will be produced during the match itself. Serious discussion needs to be had about the scheduling of the BBL, particularly when the playoffs are placed in the calendar, if it means that the marquee Australian stars don't participate to make the best product possible.

Heat captain Usman Khawaja: "Coming into this tournament with a new team, there was a lot of hard work to be done. We didn't have a very good start. It's always tough coming into a team that hasn't won. The vibe is tough. All me and Marnus tried to do was lift the guys with a bit of new energy. It's been a team effort all the way through and we've won 6 of the last 7. [Asked about Heat's chances against the Sixers with Australia's Test players leaving after this match] I still think we have a lot of good depth. I really didn't score many runs until the last couple of innings. The top four didn't really do much. The bottom guys were getting us out of trouble and we won lots of games doing that. I'm sure the guys coming in well do well. Fingers crossed we keep riding this momentum. But the Scorchers and Sixers are the teams to beat and have been the best teams in the competition for a very long time now. They're clearly the best two in the competition this year. We're gonna need something special from our guys but in T20, anything is possible. I got a lot of good starts, some 20s with really good strike rates but just couldn't kick on. I was focused on tempo tonight. I know we have a lot of power-hitting all the way through and wanted to stay out there as long as I can and get runs with positive intent. I guess I went deep enough and Renners came out, he's been batting amazing for us all tournament and batted beautifully again tonight."

That's it for tonight's live coverage. Come back on Thursday for the Challenger Final between the Heat and Sixers. The winner goes on to the Grand Final on Saturday in Perth against the Scorchers. Enjoy the next few days off. Until then, take care! And be sure to flip over to live ball-by-ball coverage of the Women's U19 T20 World Cup Final between England and India, or the live coverage of the second men's ODI between South Africa and England. See you later!

18.5
4
Rogers to Hain, FOUR, full on middle, backs away and drives through cover, the ball skids away to the rope. Brisbane Heat runaway with a seven-wicket win to knockout the Melbourne Renegades from the Playoffs.

Asad Abbasi : "My geometry isn't good at all. Please help me understand how Sutherland missed it by two yards when it was only one yard away from stumps." The ball was two yards wide of the stumps at the intersection point of where the ball would have had to connect on a north-south plane.

18.4
1
Rogers to Renshaw, 1 run, length ball on the stumps, tap and run for one.
18.3
0
Rogers to Renshaw, no run, back of a length angled across sixth stump, goes to drive and misses.
18.2
2
Rogers to Renshaw, 2 runs, full on the legs, flicked firmly through deep midwicket for two.
18.1
1
Rogers to Hain, 1 run, back of a length on the legs, flicked to deep fine leg for one.

END OF OVER:
18 | 12 Runs | BH: 156/3 (7 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.66, RRR: 3.50)

  • Sam Hain3 (3b)
  • Matt Renshaw24 (10b)
  • Fawad Ahmed4-0-36-0
  • Will Sutherland4-0-42-0
17.6
1lb
Fawad Ahmed to Hain, 1 leg bye, back of a length on the legs, misses a flick off the pads and it dribbles away for one to fine leg.
17.5
2
Fawad Ahmed to Hain, 2 runs, good length ball on middle, backs away to cut behind point and it's placed delicately enough to run two.

Slip in place for Hain.

The Phantom: "No A-League contract coming Will Sutherland's way I fancy"

17.4
1
Fawad Ahmed to Renshaw, 1 run, full on fourth stump, driven to long-on for one.
17.3
2
Fawad Ahmed to Renshaw, 2 runs, back of a length on fourth stump, goes back to punch this gently into mid-on and they race another sharp two before long-on can charge in to relay it in.
17.2
2
Fawad Ahmed to Renshaw, 2 runs, googly lands on a good length on off, spins away and is flicked through wide long-on for two.
17.1
4
Fawad Ahmed to Renshaw, FOUR, full outside off, goes to reverse sweep this and connects through backward point to the rope.

END OF OVER:
17 | 15 Runs | BH: 144/3 (19 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 8.47, RRR: 6.33)

  • Matt Renshaw15 (6b)
  • Sam Hain1 (1b)
  • Will Sutherland4-0-42-0
  • Tom Rogers3-0-25-2
16.6
1
Sutherland to Renshaw, 1 run, missed runout! Yorker on the stumps, jammed out three feet away from the stumps and they scamper for a single. Sutherland wins the footrace with Hain to the striker's end but his kick from point blank range misses horribly with Hain two yards short. He had time to pick up the ball and take the bails off with his hand but his kick missed by two yards despite only being a yard away.
16.5
6
Sutherland to Renshaw, SIX, short ball on the body, pulls this flat over the rope at deep square leg sending fans ducking in the second row.
16.4
2
Sutherland to Renshaw, 2 runs, goes for a leg stump yorker, winds up being a knee high full toss flicked to deep backward square leg, Rocchiccioli gets his knee stuck in the turf trying to make a sliding stop to keep it to two, horrible divot left behind. Lucky to not be injured.
16.3
1
Sutherland to Hain, 1 run, back of a length on fifth stump, flicked to deep midwicket for one.
16.2
1
Sutherland to Renshaw, 1 run, short on the body, top edges a pull shot just wide of deep square leg for one.
16.1
4
Sutherland to Renshaw, FOUR, length ball backing away from the stumps, slaps this tennis backhand style flat over Sutherland to the mid-on rope.

END OF OVER:
16 | 11 Runs 2 Wkts | BH: 129/3 (34 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 8.06, RRR: 8.50)

  • Matt Renshaw1 (1b)
  • Tom Rogers3-0-25-2
  • Will Sutherland3-0-27-0
15.6
W
Rogers to Labuschagne, OUT, full on sixth stump, goes for an almighty heave and skies this over mid-on. Guptill has done nothing with the bat but he's got incredibly safe hands and swallows this up backpedaling 10 yards from the edge of the ring.

M Labuschagne c Guptill b Rogers 23 (36m 21b 2x4 0x6) SR: 109.52

Heat 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st75UT KhawajaJ Brown
2nd47UT KhawajaM Labuschagne
3rd7MT RenshawM Labuschagne
4th35SR HainMT Renshaw

Big Bash League

TeamMWLPTNRR
PS14113221.205
SS14103210.846
MR147714-0.027
ST147714-0.716
BH146713-0.483
HH146812-0.34
AS145910-0.151
MS143116-0.287