Brisbane Heat chairperson Ian Healy was disappointed by the SCG pitch in Thursday’s BBL Challenger Final against the Sydney Sixers.
While the Heat eventually won by four wickets after chasing the Sixers’ target of 117 with 10 balls to spare, the game was marred by a substandard wicket.
With the ball keeping low and slow throughout the match, it was a game that favoured spin bowling with Matthew Kuhnemann taking 3/17 off his four overs.
Healy says the Heat believe SCG curators may have purposely made the pitch play that way to suit the home side, but ultimately that backfired as the Sixers hit just seven boundaries throughout their innings.
The only batsman who looked comfortable was Michael Neser - who hit seven boundaries of his own in his innings of 48 not out - and Healy described his innings as the winning knock.
“They didn’t like the wicket, neither team liked the wicket,” Healy told SENQ Breakfast.
“Brisbane’s attitude is Sydney made that wicket on purpose (to benefit the Sixers).
“But I think they did the wrong thing when they won the toss and batted first, I think it was better to bat second.
“Especially if you keep a team to a low total, you can bat in certain ways, it wasn’t a night for batting benchmarks.
“They all tried to bat at 140 strike rates and face 20 balls to see what comes of it.
“But it wasn’t the night for that, you had to think on your feet and scrap hard.
“It took a good knock to win it (from Neser) … it was very good batting.”
Having come from fifth, the Heat enter Saturday’s Final against the Perth Scorchers as huge underdogs.
While they’re up against the top side, Healy says the team believe they can get the job done.
“You create upsets without knowing what you’re doing, it’s for other people to claim,” Healy said.
“I don’t think they care that they’re inexperienced the Brisbane Heat, they just want to do it for each other.
“They’ve got great camaraderie and great belief that they can get it done.”
Saturday’s BBL Final at Optus Stadium begins at 7:30 pm (AEDT).