Colin Munro finished unbeaten on 99 as Brisbane Heat smashed Melbourne Stars by 103 runs at the Gabba
Match Report:
ScorecardMunro blitz shoots Heat past Stars in BBL|13 opener
Colin Munro has bludgeoned traditional slow starters Brisbane Heat to a statement 103-run victory in the KFC BBL|13 opener against Melbourne Stars.
The South African-born New Zealand opener slugged an unbeaten 99 off 61 balls in Thursday night's season launch at the Gabba.
He was denied a century when, after knocking a single, Max Bryant hit the final three balls of the Heat's innings for four.
BBL journeyman Munro wasn't fussed though, the Heat piling on 3-214 and then restricting Glenn Maxwell's side to 111 after he had opted to bowl first.
Michael Neser (2-30), deemed fit after being ruled out of the Prime Minister's XI clash with soreness, took two first-over wickets to leave the Stars on the ropes.
World Cup hero Maxwell (23 off 14) briefly threatened another miracle innings before he found a fielder with a reverse sweep off Mitchell Swepson (3-23).
Matthew Kuhnemann then picked up dangerman Marcus Stoinis, Joe Burns followed and the Stars were 5-54 in the eighth over.
Hilton Cartwright (33 off 16) hit three huge sixes but there was little else to write home about for the Stars.
The Heat have historically battled early in BBL seasons before finishing with a flourish.
Last year they scrambled to make the finals, then surged from fifth to come within a whisker of heavyweights Perth Scorchers in the decider.
They looked sharp on Thursday though despite missing regulars Matt Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson and Nathan McSweeney to representative duty in Canberra.
Last season's cult hero opener Josh Brown, fresh off a 42-ball century in a Heat practice match a week ago, couldn't be squeezed into the 14-man match squad.
Munro and Khawaja (28 off 19) showed why they belonged at the top in a slick start, putting on 63 in the first six overs.
Munro took a liking to Maxwell's (1-44 off three overs) off-spin, taking 19 from his first over and then slamming a straight six off the back foot when he returned.
Tom Rogers dropped a diving effort in the deep and Munro, on 58 at the time, rubbed salt in by hitting Maxwell's next delivery for six.
The Heat's bowlers and fielders then held up their end of the deal, Sam Harper out lbw on review and Rogers quickly following him.
Xavier Bartlett (2-8 from three) was the other multiple wicket-taker as Spencer Johnson (1-25) bounced back from a 20-run first over to take a wicket with the first ball of his second.
The Stars finished the clash with multiple injury concerns, the biggest of which concerned Maxwell who felt pain in his forearm while batting and was spotting icing it in the dugout after his dismissal.
"First ball he squirted one out (to square leg) and he felt something," Stars coach Peter Moores said on the Fox Cricket broadcast.
"Hopefully it's nothing major but we won't know until it settles down. We've got quite a slow intro to the tournament – we don't play until December 13 and 23 so we have got some time on our hands."
Nathan Coulter-Nile (calf) then used a runner when he came out at No.11.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
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