Brisbane Heat have almost one foot in the Big Bash final after beating Sydney Thunder by seven wickets.
Heat now faces the Perth Scorchers at Manuka Oval on Thursday for a spot in the final against the Sydney Sixers.
The Heat looked in dire straits at 14 for 2 after after England batsman Joe Denly and captain Chris Lynn fell inside the first three overs.
They were later reduced to 70 for 3 but Sam Heazlett suddenly broke loose and played the innings of his life as he took Heat to victory, with 5 balls to spare.
Labuschagne was the third man to be dismissed, having made 32 off 30 balls before being run out by Chris Green. He was unlucky as his bouncing bat wasn’t grounded when the bails were broken.
Heazlett’s unbeaten 74 came off just 49 balls!
He added 92 with Jimmy Peirson, who made 43 not out off 24 deliveries, with 2 fours and 3 sixes.
The Challenger will be played in Canberra, having been moved from Perth because of a five-day lockdown implemented by the Western Australian government.
Left-hander Heazlett started slowly scoring only 19 off the first 26 balls, without a single boundary.
But took off in spectacular fashion hitting 55 off the next 23.
He was offered a reprieve, dropped on 69 by a diving Tanveer Sangha at long leg but by then, only eight runs were needed.
Earlier, Thunder were helped by Ben Cutting’s late flourish, as he bagged a vital 34 not out to take the total to 158-8, which looked like a handy score.
Heat leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson struck twin blows by removing Daniel Sams (1) and Alex Ross lbw (9) within three balls in the 16th over.
Heazlett also contributed with his fielding, his smart catch helping dismiss Thunder’s Captain, Calum Ferguson off Morne Morkel.
Usman Khawaja and Sam Billings squandered good starts falling for 28 and 34 respectively.
| Sydney Thunder 158-8 (20 overs): Billings 34 (24), Cutting 34* (18); Steketee 2-22 |
| Brisbane Heat 162-3 (19.1 overs): Heazlett 74* (49), Peirson 43* (24) |
Watch the highlights of Sam Heazlett’s innings here!
