The Brisbane Heat seemed like the team to beat in the 2019-20 edition of the Big Bash League. Having previously coached the team to Big Bash glory in 2012-13, Darren Lehmann returned to coach the team after a spell as coach of the Australian national cricket team.

Lehmann had coached the Australian team to Ashes wins and a World Cup win since then, but he had been forced resigned an Australian coach in the wake of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal. Lehmann was –  and is – a proven winner. If anyone could take Brisbane Heat back to their winning ways, it would surely be the man that got them there in the first place.

Brisbane’s record in the Big Bash is mortifying. Their success in the 2012-13 final against the Perth Scorchers remains their most recent knockout win. They were the only team not to have played multiple finals matches between 2013 and 2017.

The desire for reinvention this season was essential for the team after four largely disappointing seasons and the departures of former coach Daniel Vettori and legendary batsman Brendon McCullum.

Behind the scenes, batsman Alex Ross and fast bowler Brendan Doggett created holes in the squad after both accepted a move to the Sydney Thunder, but the Heat worked hard and recruited well during the off-season. 18-year-old off spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was set to return to the Heat along with new international signings Zahir Khan and Tom Banton.

Brisbane Heat had also managed to poach death bowling specialist Ben Laughlin from the Adelaide Strikers and, somehow, recruit former South African limited overs captain AB de Villiers. De Villiers is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and he, along with established Heat stars Chris Lynn, Joe Burns, Matthew Renshaw, James Pattinson and Ben Cutting would form a crucial part of the batting lineup.

With so much promise emanating from the team’s 20-man squad, the only way was up. Lehmann leading this team had the earmarks of success. So how, after just two months of competition, did the Brisbane Heat’s 2019-20 BBL campaign come crashing down so swiftly? How did it all go so wrong?

We are going to look at every game the Heat played this summer and break them down in order to try and pinpoint where each match was won or lost. By looking at the numbers, we can look at individual and team performances, as well as key moments in a much more in-depth manner. Prepare yourself for a lot of crazy numbers.

Game 1: Sydney Thunder (17/12/2019)

Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat when they came up to the Gabba to face Brisbane Heat in the opening match of the 2019-20 Big Bash League. That proved to be a splendid idea as Usman Khawaja hit Josh Lalor for two fours in his first three balls.

Key Moment 1 – Lalor denied Khawaja wicket: Lalor fired back on his fourth ball and had Khawaja trapped in front with a brilliant length ball that was hitting the middle of middle stump. The umpire shook his head, perhaps believing that Khawaja had got a little inside edge but, replays showed otherwise. The 2019-20 BBL season was just four balls old and the Heat had already missed out on a wicket. This would ultimately cost them 14 runs as Khawaja went on to score three more boundaries on his way to 22 off 13 balls, striking at 169.23.

Lalor finally got his man in his second over, the third of the match, as Khawaja top edged a hook shot to fine leg that was smartly caught by Sam Heazlett. Heazlett was everywhere in the field and added two more catches to his tally as the Thunder slipped to 3-38 after five overs.

Key Moment 2 – Ferguson and Ross partnership: With the Thunder reeling at 3-44 after the powerplay, former Brisbane Heat player Alex Ross joined Sydney Thunder captain Callum Ferguson at the crease. The pair put on 63 off 50 balls, striking at 126, for the fourth wicket in what would prove to be a crucial partnership.

Sydney Thunder’s run rate was 7.60 when the pair came together despite losing three wickets inside the powerplay. Over the next 8 overs, the pair were able to maintain a run rate of 7.88 before Alex Ross was caught for 30 off 27 balls trying to reverse sweep Heat leg spinner Mitchell Swepson in the 14th over.

Key Moment 3 – Brisbane Heat death bowling: Having just dismissed Ross, Mitchell Swepson bowled Daniel Sams with a perfectly pitched googly to put himself on a hat-trick. This should have seen a momentum shift in the game for the Heat. Instead, Ferguson launched an assault of 31 runs off 16 balls at a strike rate of 193.75‬ in the final five overs and finished with 73 not out off just 44 balls. He was the only batsman to score more than 30 runs for the entire match.

Batting with spinner Chris Green, the pair combined in another crucial partnership of 42 runs off 28 balls at a strike rate of 150. Green hit two fours and a six on his way to 25 off just 17 balls which allowed the Thunder reach a final score of 6-172 as Brisbane Heat’s seam bowlers conceded 51 runs off the final four overs at 12.8 runs per over.

Brisbane Heat’s bowlers could consider themselves unlucky with 21 of those 51 runs (41.2%) coming from a total of five top, thick and inside edges. An additional four byes were also recorded when a good Ben Laughlin off cutter spun past wicketkeeper Tom Banton to the boundary. Nevertheless, the Thunder scored around 15-20 more runs than they should have done off the final four overs with even 10 rpo during that period enough to restrict them to a chasable 161.

Key Moment 4 – Tom Banton’s opening over blitz: Needing to score an unimposing 8.65 runs per over, Heat opener Tom Banton began his BBL career by innocuously shouldering arms to Daniel Sams’ first ball. He must’ve liked what he saw of Sams though as he hit two sixes over deep midwicket and a four to give the Heat 0-17 off the first over.

Banton was keen for runs and couldn’t resist the urge to advance Jono Cook off the first ball he faced from the spinner. Unfortunately for the Englishman, and the Heat, he was only successful in flicking the ball to Nathan McAndrew at deep mid wicket. Banton’s blitz of 16 off 7 balls at 228.57 had come to an abrupt end with the Heat now 1-18.

Key Moment 5 – Scoreboard pressure and lack of partnerships: Slow starts for Max Bryant (11 off 10 balls) and Chris Lynn (9 off 9 balls) meant the Heat scored at just 5.8 rpo between the second and sixth overs. Both players returned to the dressing room in consecutive overs to leave the Heat in a similar position to the Thunder after the powerplay with the score at 3-46. In fact, the match was so close at one stage that both teams were 3-53 after seven overs, scoring at 7.57 rpo.

Unlike how Ferguson and Ross were able to maintain the run rate however, the Thunder’s spinners Chris Green, Arjun Nair and Cook applied the brakes as Sam Heazlett and Matthew Renshaw struggled to score above 7 runs per over. Heazlett was eventually caught at long on by Alex Hales for just 12 off 12 balls when he tried to slog sweep Nair while Renshaw fell for 26 off 24 balls, also trying to slog sweep a spinner.

Key Moment 6 – Ben Cutting’s last stand: Left batting with fast bowler Mark Steketee, Ben Cutting was the top-scorer for the Heat with 28 off 18 balls, striking at 155.55, which included two fours and two sixes. Cutting helped the Heat score at 8.6 rpo during the 7.2 overs he spent at the crease and, almost single-handedly, scored at 9.2 rpo from the 13th over until he was finally bowled by Daniel Sams in the 17th over.

Whereas Sydney Thunder scored 51 runs off the final four overs, Brisbane Heat lost 5-32 in the final five overs as the team limped to 143 all out off 19.2 overs. Steketee should have been out for just 1, but escaped being caught on the boundary when Nathan McAndrew touched the rope with his heel. Wickets fell in procession after Steketee was bowled by Green for 15 with Josh Lalor running himself out just two balls later. Cutting was all set to launch and hit two sixes off Daniel Sams before he too, was bowled. With the rest of the tail cleaned up easily, Sydney Thunder took a comfortable win by 29 runs.

WHERE THE GAME WAS LOST – Spin to win

Each team’s ability to utilise their spin bowlers proved to be the key difference between the two teams. At a venue known for providing assistance to the quicker bowlers, it is vital for teams to make the most of their spin bowling options.

Having just dismissed Alex Ross in the 14th over, Mitchell Swepson bowled Daniel Sams with a perfectly pitched googly to put himself on a hat-trick. Sams was playing for the leg break, but the ball spun the other way through the wide open gate and crashed into the stumps.

Swepson’s googlies, or wrong ‘uns, were an effective weapon against the Thunder on this night with the Thunder batsmen only able to score 2 runs from the 5 googlies he bowled, striking at 40. The 26-year-old finished with figures of 2-11 off just two overs, conceding just one boundary.

His length was also key. Of all the deliveries Swepson bowled, seven of them (or 58.3%) were either half volley or good length balls with the Thunder batsmen only able to score 3 runs off deliveries of that kind – a strike rate of 42.86.

When Swepson dropped shorter however, the Thunder batsmen were able to score more freely with a strike rate of 100 from four back of a length deliveries. Alex Ross also hammered Swepson’s only short ball to the deep forward square boundary. Apart from that boundary, Ross was only able to score two singles off the other four balls Swepson bowled to him.

Afghanistan left-arm leg spinner Zahir Khan also bowled well in his debut for the Heat and finished with 0-27 off his four overs. He was the only Heat bowler unable to take a wicket but, like Swepson, Khan leaked just a single boundary and generally had more success with half volley or good length balls. The Thunder batsmen scored 16 runs off 17 balls of that kind, striking less than a run per ball at 94.12.

While Swepson had around a 60-40 ratio of leg spin deliveries to googlies respectively, Khan’s was 50-50. His unorthodox left-arm leg spin proved to be marginally more effective than his googlies with the Thunder batsmen striking at 100 versus 125 against googlies. These numbers from both of Brisbane Heat’s spinners suggest that right-handed Thunder batsmen have weakness against balls spinning into them.

Together, Khan and Swepson finished with figures of 2-38 off six overs at 6.33 runs per over compared to the team’s four seam bowlers who took 4-134 off 14 overs at 9.57 rpo. The pair also had a strike rate of 18 compared to 21 for the fast bowlers.

Sydney Thunder’s three spinners had near-identical economy and strike rates of 5.83 and 12 in the second innings. However, they finished with figures of 6-70 from 12 overs compared to their seamers who took 3-69 off 7.2 overs at 9.58 rpo and a strike rate of 15.

It is harder for seam bowlers to defend runs at the Gabba because often they are asked to bowl at the shorter boundary from the Vulture Street End. As a result, only four of the 20 overs bowled from the Vulture Street End were by spinners. Facing spin, batsmen from both teams were scoring at 9.50 rpo compared to just 5 rpo to the longer Stanley Street boundary.

Sydney Thunder’s trio of spinners bowled well to apply the brakes and dry up the Heat’s runs. The Heat’s batsmen were only able to score at 4.56 rpo from the nine overs of spin bowled from the Stanley Street End. This would prove to be the difference between the two sides with the Heat losing a wicket for every two overs of spin.

OTHER FACTS & FIGURES

• Fielding on the boundary for much of the innings, Sam Heazlett took three great catches and got his hands on the ball a total of 25 times, more than any other Heat player. He also finished the innings with 8.3 touches per dismissal with 12 percent of all his touches resulting in a wicket.
• Ferguson and Ross’ 63-run partnership made up 36.6% percent of the Thunder’s final tally of 172. That’s just over one-third of the entire team’s score. Alex Ross’ 30 made up 17.4% of the Thunder’s final score while Callum Ferguson contributed 42.4% with his classy innings of 73 not out off 44 balls.
• Sydney Thunder’s spinners Jono Cook, Chris Green and Arjun Nair bowled 9 of the 9.2 overs bowled from the longer Stanley Street End boundary.
• Facing spin, batsmen from both teams scored 38 runs off 24 balls at a strike rate of 158.33 (9.5 rpo) hitting towards the shorter Vulture Street End compared to 70 runs off 84 balls at 83.33 (5 rpo) towards the Stanley Street End. The difference in strike rates in worth 4.5 runs per over.

SUMMARY

Bowling at the death has always been an issue for Brisbane Heat’s bowlers, hence the acquisition of death bowling specialist Ben Laughlin during the off-season. This game however, was no exception. The final four overs of Brisbane Heat’s bowling innings undid their hard work early on after they had the Thunder at 5-121 after 16 overs and staring down the barrel of a final score between 150-155. Laughlin himself bowled two of the final four overs and conceded 27 runs at 13.5 rpo to help the Thunder reach 6-172.

Meanwhile, Brisbane Heat’s batsmen struggled to free their arms against the Thunder’s trio of spinners. The Heat only manged to score 6-70 at 5.83 rpo off 12 overs of spin with that run rate dropping further to just 4.56 rpo from the nine overs of spin bowled from the longer Stanley Street End boundary. Facing spin has generally been a weakness for Brisbane Heat’s batsmen and it’s something they will have to work in the future.

More to come…