Heat defy Sams' historic spell to maintain unbeaten run

Brisbane Heat have defied a horror collapse and a historic Daniel Sams spell to beat the Sydney Thunder by 15 runs and stay unbeaten in KFC BBL|13.

The hosts were flying on Wednesday at the Gabba on the back of Nathan McSweeney's (73 off 52) delightful innings, before they lost 7-16 to be all out for 172.

Sams took four wickets in his final over and finished with a career-best 5-30 to become the Thunder's first male bowler to claim a five-wicket haul.

Cameron Bancroft (46 off 39) was engineering the Thunder's chase nicely but came undone in a decisive 14th over.

Calling for the Power Surge at 2-97, the opener was immediately dismissed as Xavier Bartlett (3-29) went for just three runs off the bat and a leg bye.

Ollie Davies, who would have been out second ball if Mitchell Swepson had reviewed an lbw shout, then threatened to play the decisive hand.

But Matthew Kuhnemann (2-25) out-foxed his man, sprinting to the edge of the fielding restriction circle for a sensational caught-and-bowled.

Sams was then out in the next over before a direct hit from Michael Neser caught Nathan McAndrew just short to kill off any hope of a successful chase, the Thunder finishing the innings on 9-157.

Victory put the Heat two points clear of Perth Scorchers on top of the BBL|13 standings with four wins and a washed-out no result, while the Thunder slipped to 1-3.

Earlier the Heat were on track for an imposing total, McSweeney and Josh Brown (39 off 29) putting on 106 after Colin Munro was caught at deep square leg for a golden duck.

Big-hitter Brown unusually took the back seat as McSweeney powered the innings with pure stroke-making and clever placement.

Cameos from Matt Renshaw and Sam Billings moved them to 3-156 before the rot set in, Sams' changes of pace making the Heat's lower order look foolish.

He had McSweeney caught at cover before Bartlett, Spencer Johnson and Mitchell Swepson were undone by slower balls.

The allrounder was unlucky not to jag a hat-trick with Swepson's mistimed slog falling just short of his feet.

The Thunder fell into the same trap though, Brisbane's spinners triggering a 29-ball period without a boundary before the wickets tumbled.

KFC BBL|13 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	0	4

Legend

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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