A decent bowling display by the Adelaide Strikers saw them secure a narrow two-run victory over the Brisbane Heat in their Big Bash League match at the Gabba on Wednesday.
The home side won the toss and elected to field first – a decision that yielded early reward with Xavier Bartlett dismissing Jake Weatherald.
Phil Salt (25) and Matt Renshaw (32) got things back on track for the Strikers with a 60-run partnership before Jonathan Wells added 31.
A couple of wickets in the middle order of the Strikers lineup halted some of the progress they made with the bat and in the end the Adelaide outfit finished their innings on 150-6.
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The Heat, though, were put under pressure from as early as the second delivery when Sam Heazlett departed for a duck.
It didn’t get much better when Simon Milenko was dismissed by Danny Briggs the following over as the Heat slumped to 1-2.
Rashid Khan then got in on the act for the Strikers with two wickets of his own before Wes Agar picked up a fifth Heat wicket.
But, while the rest of the Heat batsmen failed to step up to the occasion, captain Jimmy Peirson went on the attack and began giving his team some hope with a couple of big blows.
Peirson raced to his half-century and recovered his team from 68-8 to 129-9 when Mujeeb Ur Rahman was sent packing by Peter Siddle.
Peirson kept ticking away at the target and forced the game into the final over as the Heat required 13 runs for victory.
The right-hander added another boundary but a couple of brilliant yorkers by Daniel Worrall, which Peirson failed to get away, ultimately saw the Strikers get over the line with the final ball of the match.
