Match Recap: Heat defeat Thunder

Match in a tweet: Seamer Sutherland skittles the Thunder before Mooney guides the Heat home with an unbeaten half-century

The Score: Sydney Thunder 8-115 (Blackwell 43) in 20 overs lost to Brisbane Heat 1-117 (Mooney 75*) in 18.5 overs by nine wickets

The hero: Beth Mooney continued her splendid form, getting the Heat off to a flying start and in the process easing the pressure of chasing down a tricky total. The keeper-batter was lethal with her beloved lofted shot and the flick off her legs.  Mooney's blistering innings of 75 not out from 66 balls consisted of seven sweetly timed boundaries and most importantly for the Heat, she remained unbeaten at the end to guide Brisbane to a crucial win. 

The support cast: Kara Sutherland's left-arm angle created havoc for the Thunder batters. Introduced into the attack in the 14th over Sutherland only bowled 12 balls in the innings but that was enough to halt the Thunder's charge. Sutherland trapped Nicola Carey (16) in front of her stumps, undid Erin Osborne (3) with a cutter and then got the prized scalp of the well-set Alex Blackwell (43). Sutherland ended with remarkable figures of 2-0-5-3. 

The consolation effort: After watching the openers perish early in the innings Blackwell, decided it was time to drop anchor and build a substantial knock. The Thunder skipper was watchful early on striking her first boundary off the 17th ball she faced. After the halfway point, Blackwell used all her experience to manoeuvre the ball around the field with some beautiful timing. She combined power and innovation to blast 43 from 48 balls with four boundaries to propel the Thunder towards a decent total. 

The next stop: Both teams will now head down to Tasmania to play the Hurricanes. Thunder will meet Hobart on 5 January in Launceston while the Heat play in Hobart on 8 January.