Brown bludgeons Heat into BBL decider with 41-ball stunner

Brisbane Heat is through to the BBL Final after one of the greatest knocks in the competition’s history

Brisbane Heat v Adelaide Strikers | BBL|13

Josh Brown has bludgeoned the Brisbane Heat in the KFC BBL|13 decider with one of the greatest knocks in competition history to demolish the Adelaide Strikers by 54 runs.

Brown slammed a BBL record 12 sixes propel the Heat to a mammoth 7-214 – the highest score in a men’s Big Bash final and easily the best at Carrara Stadium – bringing up his maiden century in just 41 balls.

It was the equal second fastest BBL century behind the legendary Craig Simmons’ 39-ball effort and level with Glenn Maxwell’s 41-ball ton against the Hobart Hurricanes in BBL|11.

Brown slams BBL’s second fastest ton

Brown, whose highest score this season before tonight was 43, finished with a career-best 140 from 57 balls before rising left-armer Spencer Johnson snuffed out any chance of a Strikers fightback by ripping through their top three batters in an equally as impressive spell.

The loss ends a five-match winning run for the Strikers who had surged from the bottom of the table on January 3 into the tournament’s final three by emphatically ending the Perth Scorchers hopes of a historic three-peat two nights ago.

That winning streak was built off the success of their two leg-spinners Cameron Boyce and Lloyd Pope who Brown hammered for 50 and 39 respectively from their four overs tonight.

After skipper Nathan McSweeney won the toss and elected to bat, Brown raced to a 22-ball fifty alongside the Heat’s debutant opener Charlie Wakim (7), who was brought in at the expense of Australia-capped leg-spinner Mitch Swepson.

Brown then hit four of his next 10 balls over the rope as the Strikers bowlers kept sliding into his hitting arc, as 46 runs came from his next 17 deliveries faced.

The 30-year-old right-hander offered the only half-chance of his epic knock on 89 when he skied a ball into the leg-side that landed between three fielders as they desperately converged on square leg to try and end the rampage.

Four balls later he whacked Boyce over wide long off to reach an incredible century, but he wasn’t finished yet, hitting another three sixes and three fours after passing the milestone.

Brown celebrates equal-second fastest BBL ton

He was eventually out in the 17th over when his attempt at a 13th six off David Payne went high into the night sky and was smartly held by Strikers wicketkeeper Harry Nielsen running back with the flight.

Payne was the only Strikers bowler spared, but bizarrely bowled only three overs to finish with 2-17.

McSweeney chipped in with 33 from 29 in a 119-run second-wicket stand with Brown as no other Heat batter reached double figures, merely reduced to spectators at the non-strikers’ end.

Boyce and Pope also claimed two wickets each to take their tally to 24 combined over the past six games, but it came at a cost on a surface where it was tipped pre-match they would be at their most effective.

A collapse of 5-15 towards the end of their innings kept the Heat to a total that was potentially chasable with the tournament’s top run-scorer Matt Short and its most in-form batter Jake Weatherald in the Strikers top three.

But Johnson put an end to those hope with both their wickets in his opening two overs, also adding fellow opener D’Arcy Short for good measure as the Stirkers slumped to 3-62 in the ninth over.

Johnson takes Strikers’ top three to leave chase in tatters

Thomas Kelly (41 off 24) tried to keep the visitors up with the rate, and Nielsen chipped in with an unbeaten 50, but after the loss of their top three, the task proved insurmountable as they were bowled out for 160 in the last over.

McSweeney chimed in with three wickets late, while Xavier Bartlett, Paul Walter and Matt Kuhnemann contributed one each in another outstanding team bowling display.

Bouncing back from two straight losses, the Heat – who were the most outstanding team during the regular season with seven straight victories – travel to Sydney tomorrow to face the Sixers for a shot at the BBL|13 title on Wednesday night at the SCG.

KFC BBL|13 Finals Schedule

The Qualifier: Sydney Sixers beat Brisbane Heat by 39 runs

The Knockout: Adelaide Strikers beat Perth Scorchers by 50 runs

The Challenger: Brisbane Heat beat Adelaide Strikers by 54 runs

The Final: Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat, January 24, 7.15pm AEDT, SCG