Heat vs Sixers, Final at Sydney, BBL 2023, Jan 24 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

BBL 13 took the popularity of the league back towards its peak. It has unearthed new heroes and connected people and cultures for the last 48 days. Thanks for tagging along in the journey. I'm Ekanth, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Alex Malcolm, our scorer Thilak Rama, and everyone who helped cover the comp. Goodnight.

Heat have ensured BBL is no more an eight-team comp that's played to crown Scorchers champions. They had a seven-game win streak and stormed into the finals despite the washouts. They didn't have the Gabba advantage as the second Australia vs West Indies Test will be played there. They didn't have all their top picks due to ILT20 signings. They suffered a setback at the Gold Coast but blazed past a red-hot Strikers the Challenger, thanks to Josh Brown. In the final, Brown stepped up again and Spencer Johnson rattled a dominant Sixers in their own backyard to be crowned champions again.

McSweeney gets the trophy, the team-mates come roaring to the stage. Confetti and fireworks go up, the stands are mostly empty. The roars from the players are all you could hear.

Nathan McSweeney, Brisbane Heat captain: Fantastic feeling. This is what you played for. Congratulations to the Sixers, who have been an excellent side forever. Well done to Steve O'Keefe. Thanks to Colin Munro, Usman, Marnus, and Billings who aren't here with us. Congrats to CA on the successful tournament and the Sydney crowd.

Time for Brisbane Heat's players to go up and collect their medals from some of the young representatives. The players hand their regular caps to the kids while keeping the winners' caps.

Daniel Hughes, Sydney Sixers vice-captain: Unfortunately, the skipper isn't up here tonight but it's up to me. Thanks to our sponsors firstly, thanks to our members and fans. We love your support. And to the Heat boys, well done. Congrats on another good year. To my team-mates, another awesome year. Couldn't get over the line tonight. To SOK, wonderful year. Round of applause for Sokky. Wonderful team-mate and person. You've left the team in a better place.

Spencer Johnson, POTM for his 4 for 26: This is pretty special to be in this position again. We wanted to make amends after last year and here we are. Credit the Sixers, they've been awesome all year. It's taken an awesome performance to get over. To Brisbane Heat, you've changed by life. Thank you for everything.

11:06pm Presentations coming up.

Spencer Johnson on Fox: "I owe Brisbane Heat everything. Coming up here last year, I didn't know where my career was going and now I've just won a Big Bash with 11 of my closest mates. So it's pretty cool. Credit to the batters, Browny again, got us to a total that we can defend and I feel like we were the best team all year so I think we deserve to have the medal around our necks. This is pretty cool. The first over probably didn't go the way I wanted it to. To get a couple of wickets and win it's pretty special. Twelve months ago, I wasn't in this position. And I think the Brisbane Heat have changed my life. So it's pretty special."

SLN: "Brisbane are nothing without their international players.... well the last 2 games have shown they have international ready players, whatta performance"

Jimmy Peirson: Long time coming, it's a bit raw at the minute. Lots of ups and downs but pleased to be back to be part of the team with so much success.

Michael Neser: Catch was almost a reflex thing. I knew I was close but not that close to the boundary. It's a huge win for the group. We've put in a lot of work after the loss last year. Feel we've been the most consistent team. (To the family) Love you all.

Matt Kuhnemann: I'm speechless, so happy for the boys. Best feeling ever.

Mitchell Swepson: It's my ninth year at the club, feels like it's a long time coming. We've got the reward we wanted.

10:55pm Brisbane Heat have joined Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers to win the BBL multiple times. They put up a competitive 166 after losing the toss which looked around par. Michael Neser set the tone first over, removing Hughes with Test-match bowling. Edwards got going after biding some time, he took on Johnson in his first over but the speedster, who conceded 13 off his first balls gave away just as many in the rest of his spell. He had Edwards chop on and used his pace to ensure that batters couldn't swipe him across the line. He took out Philippe, Dwarshuis, and Kerr to ensure there was no middle-order fightback. Sixers' hopes were hinging on Henriques but that didn't last long as his efforts to take on Walter in an early Power Surge led to him top edging a pull to midwicket. The wickets kept tumbling thereafter and a glorious catch from Neser at the close added to Heat's party.

SOK won't get the fairytale finish but can get a few hits

Sarthak: "Michael Neser, how do you keep doing it?!"

Bartlett returns

Matt Renshaw says not over. Says someone can still get 50 off 10, probably just wants to keep the foot on the gas

Matthew: "Has big Spence made a genuine case for T20 WC selection? Not just this game, but the tournament as a whole? He's been electric! "

72 needed off 30. Kuhnemann, from around

David: "Johnson's first went for 13, next 3 went for the same."

Thamizh Ponnu: "Spencer Johnson: MoM and MoBBL23/24"

Krithika: "Whom and why did the SCG crowd boo ? If it is for Kerr , extremely unfair on the crowd's part. An athlete can get injured anytime " Hopefully not