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Gilkes, Konstas and Shadab star in Thunder triumph
SEN • December 23rd, 2025 9:26 am
Matt Gilkes and Sam Konstas did the damage with the bat as the Sydney Thunder comfortably accounted for the Brisbane Heat in BBL|15 on Monday night.
The Thunder openers put on 127 for the first wicket at Manuka Oval with Gilkes smashing 76 from 48 deliveries (four fours and three sixes), while Konstas piled on 63 off 45 balls aided by some crafty shot selection.
Sam Billings chimed in with 25 of just 11 balls with 20 of his runs coming from boundaries as the Thunder put on 4/193 in Canberra.
Brisbane’s prized recruit Shaheen Shah Afridi produced the best spell of his short BBL career to date, taking the important wicket of Gilkes to finish with 1/35 off four overs having entered the game with a record of 1/92 from less than seven overs.
The Heat tried in vain to reach the total set by the Thunder but were thwarted by Shadab Khan who was chief destroyer with the ball.
The Pakistan leg-spinner took 4/24 off his four overs including the top three scalps of Colin Munro (18), the in-form Jack Wildermuth (14), and the dangerous Matt Renshaw (43 off 28), as well as Tom Alsop (5).
Daniel Sams took 2/25 as the Heat faltered to 6/159 in a loss that has them with a 1-2 record and sitting second bottom on the BBL table. They next play the Melbourne Stars in the nation’s capital on Sunday.
It was the Thunder’s first win of the season which has them sitting narrowly above the Heat in sixth ahead of their next task against the Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba on Saturday.
