Alex Ross produced a majestic 61 not out at his old stomping ground on Monday night to deliver an opening-day win for the Sydney Thunder over a below-par Brisbane Heat with 17 balls to spare.
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The former under-17s ACT Comet came to the Manuka Oval crease against his old side with the Thunder stuttering at 3-32 chasing 141, and went about crafting the impeccable run chase.
He came to life in the 13th over, flat batting a bruising six over backward point from Heat replacement Liam Guthrie, who had taken two early wickets to give the visitors a chance before Ross injected himself.
Soon after he swatted a flat six through cover to bring up his half century, as the Thunder cruised to victory in front of their new coach, Trevor Bayliss.
Ross combined expertly with English wicketkeeper Sam Billings (45*), the pair putting on an unbeaten 109-run partnership for the fourth wicket after losing last season's Big Bash leading run scorer Alex Hales for a second-ball duck.
It came on an atypically tricky Manuka wicket, which had lay mostly dormant through a COVID-plagued 2021 after hosting a whopping 13 Big Bash matches last summer.
"A little bit tacky back of a length, we talked about it in the break to take our time, especially when there was only 140 on the board," Ross said.
"We [Ross and Billings] have both played quite a lot of cricket now and we do that role for pretty much all the teams that we play in, play in that four, five, six role, come together, build a partnership and do those things that are right out of the textbook. We work with each other quite well.
"I can thank the weather Gods, we played on some very wet wickets in Sydney grade cricket. Thanks to the Northern District Rangers. Chris Green was kind enough to get me on board."
Stand-in Thunder captain Green had won the toss and elected to bowl, sensing early opportunities with the ball.
And when Max Bryant and Chris Lynn fell cheaply the gamble looked to have paid off, before last year's semi-final hero Sam Heazlett strode to the crease.
Heazlett hit 74 not out at Manuka Oval last season, helping Brisbane bundle the Thunder out of the BBL in the knockout semi-final.
He rode his luck on Monday, and finished with 42 as part of an 83-run stand with Englishman Ben Duckett, the pair hauling their side back into the contest.
But the Thunder's leading all-time wicket taker Daniel Sams (3-22), returning paceman Gurinder Sandhu (2-17) and former Comet Nathan McAndrew (2-33) all did too much damage, reducing Brisbane to just 8-140 from their 20 overs.
It was then up to Ross and Billings to steer their side to victory, allowing the Thunder to join their Harbour City counterparts, the Sixers, atop the early BBL standings.