The Sydney teams have continued their dominant start to the Big Bash, with the Thunder cruising past the Brisbane Heat in their season opener.
After losing three early wickets, the pair of Sam Billings (44 not out off 36 balls) and Alex Ross (61 not out off 46 balls) guided the Thunder to a seven-wicket win, with 17 balls to spare.
The Heat batted first, posting 8-140.
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“It’s always been nice to get up the order and the higher you can bat, the better,” man of the match Ross said afterwards.
“Our bowlers set up that win though. 140 was never enough on that wicket. A few of the guys talk about continuity in the team. There’s no egos.”
Ashes hopeful and Heat captain Jimmy Peirson had a moment to forget late on, completely losing track of what should have been a routine catch after a mis-hit from Sam Billings.
“He’s not got a hand on that,” Andrew Symonds said.
“You’ve got to take them.”
The match was probably beyond doubt at this point, with the Thunder needing only nine runs from three and a half overs.
Peirson was in the frame for a call-up to the Ashes squad after Tim Paine’s departure, but the nod went to Alex Carey instead.
“I’m still sort of learning my trade through this role of captaincy and keeping. I learned a lot tonight,” Peirson said afterwards.
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