The Brisbane Heat began the defence of their Big Bash League title with a final-over three-wicket victory over the Perth Scorchers on Sunday.
The Scorchers, who won the toss and chose to bat, lost wickets at regular intervals throughout their innings but still went along at a steady pace.
Mitchell Marsh was their star batsman as he scored an unbeaten 57 off 35 balls. Opener and elder brother Shaun (37 off 30) was the only other Scorcher to make more than 20 runs.
The Heat's leading bowlers were Ben Cutting and Alister McDermott, who both took three wickets for 31 and 38 runs off their four overs respectively.
Brisbane's innings began slowly as the first three batsmen, Luke Pomersbach (4), Craig Kieswetter (4) and Joe Burns (8), all departed within the first five overs.
Four of the next five batsmen achieved double figures, though, and it was Chris Lynn's 81 off 53 balls, including six sixes, that inspired victory.
Lynn was caught in the deep on the third ball of the final over with the Heat still requiring four runs from the last three deliveries.
They came on the next ball as Cutting (15*) fortuitously found the boundary with a thick inside edge.
Nathan Coulter-Nile and Brad Hogg both took three wickets for the Scorchers, going for 37 and 21 runs respectively.
Pascal Lemesre
