‘We’re peaking at the right time’: Why the Heat think history can repeat in the BBL final

The bookies have given them no chance, but history suggests the Heat can pull off a major upset when they travel to Perth for the BBL final.

Michael Neser knew he’d have to step up with the Heat’s Test players in India, but he never thought that would mean whacking the highest score of his BBL career to help them sneak into Saturday’s final.

It’s the latest chapter in one of the most remarkable runs in tournament history, with Brisbane one win away from the club’s second title.

They’ve been able to rely on Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw and Mitch Swepson to bring the star power in recent weeks, but this time it was up to Neser to deliver the knock of his life to take down the Sixers.

Michael Neser made batting look easy on a tricky wicket. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Making his unbeaten 48 even more remarkable was no recognised batter looked comfortable on a pitch that kept low and slow until the men’s domestic player of the year walked to the crease and whacked four boundaries in a row.

“I was just fortunate that came off (because) it was a tough wicket to bat on, especially to get started. Once you got the pace of the wicket, it wasn’t too bad,” he said.

“I wasn’t too nervous, I was more focused on what I had to get done. It was a weird one because I am usually quite nervous, but it was potentially the last game of the season so I just thought it was all or nothing.”

The Heat now travels to Perth where they’ll face the defending champions looking to make it four finals wins in a row away from home after they started the season with just one win from their opening five games.

It’s a similar run to what they produced to win their only other title, and while no one is giving them a chance against the Scorchers, Neser knows it only takes one fantastic spell or a blistering innings for them to get the job done.

The Heat is looking for a repeat of their shock win over Perth in the final a decade ago.

“We’re peaking at the right time,” he said, hoping for a repeat of Brisbane’s win in Perth in the BBL|02 final.

“This back-end of the tournament, we’ve really got on a roll and we’re really gelling as a team. Even when our Test stars aren’t here, we’re really performing.

“The good thing is, there always seems to be someone willing to put up their hand and get the job done. It seems to get done really late in the game which is stressful – our poor coaches are looking for this tournament to be done.

“I think all the games we lost, we showed signs that we were improving. The one thing we’ve done this whole tournament is improve every single game.

“It’s very similar to BBL|02 when we came home with a wet sail. You never know, it could be the same result.”

Originally published as ‘We’re peaking at the right time’: Why the Heat think history can repeat in the BBL final