Brisbane Heat edge Melbourne Stars to extend unbeaten run

The Heat clung on to win by four runs, with half-centuries from Sam Hain and Jimmy Peirson among the standout performances

Brisbane: Brisbane Heat 188-4, Melbourne Stars 184-3 – Brisbane Heat won by four runs

Scorecard

Brisbane Heat extended their unbeaten run to four matches after holding on for a tight four-run win over Melbourne Stars.

The Heat, who had previously won just two matches from nine, are now third in the table. For the Stars, however, the result marked their 10th defeat of the season.

Batting first, the home side made an untidy start, losing Josh Brown and Marnus Labuschagne to the bowling of Luke Wood (2 for 38) inside three overs.

Matt Renshaw (run out by Adam Zampa) and Usman Khawaja (bowled Nathan Coulter-Nile) also made early exits to leave the Heat 55 for 4 in the seventh over.

^{Sam Hain scored a half-century for Brisbane Heat [Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images]}

However, Sam Hain and wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson had few problems when it came to scoring runs, sharing an unbeaten 133-run stand off 79 balls to carry their side to 188 for 4 at close.

Hain scored 73 not out off 41 balls, including seven fours and four sixes, while Peirson chipped in with 57 runs off 43 deliveries.

In reply, Tom Rogers raced out of the blocks to kickstart Melbourne Stars' chase, blasting 41 runs (20 deliveries) before being removed by James Bazley in the fifth over.

^{Marcus Stoinis nearly steered the Stars to victory [Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images]}

His departure turned the tide back in Brisbane's favour, with Joe Clarke (31 off 32) and Campbell Kellaway (25 off 23) both failing to match his brisk scoring.

Both players fell to Mitchell Swepson, leaving the Stars 104 for 3 in the 14th over and requiring 85 runs off 42 balls, an equation which became 35 from 12 before a poor over from Michael Neser left the Stars just 14 runs shy of victory.

But despite conceding a boundary off the first ball of the over, Spencer Johnson kept his cool to deny the Stars.

Marcus Stoinis finished unbeaten on 36 (23) while Hilton Cartwright scored 33 runs off 24 balls. Their fourth-wicket partnership yielded 80 runs off 43 balls.