THE BRISBANE Heat have pulled off an unlikely win, defending a low total to beat the Sydney Sixers by 12 runs in yesterday’s Women’s Big Bash League action.

Brisbane only made 9/139, but it proved to be enough as the Sixers could only make 8/127.

The Heat actually got off to a really good start, putting on 63 runs in seven overs for the opening partnership.

However, after that things really fell apart. The wickets started to come really regularly and there were only two further partnerships that actually reached into double figures.

Unsurprisingly the top two scorers for the Heat were their openers, with Grace Harris making 39 and Georgia Redmayne making 28.

Meanwhile for the Sixers Amelia Kerr was chief destroyer with the ball, picking up four wickets, while Sophie Ecclestone and Ash Gardner picked up two wickets each.

By stark contrast to the Heat, the start to the Sixers’ chase was just about as disastrous as it could have gotten, falling to 2/4 two balls into the second over, then 3/12 an over later.

That bad start was truly a sign of things to come, as although the partnerships really improved after that, the Sixers were unable to make up for lost time that was lost at the beginning of the innings.

Unsurprisingly, much of the Sixers’ runs came towards the middle and the back of the innings. Sarah Bryce top scored with 30, while Ecclestone finished on 24 not out.  

Meanwhile for the Heat Jess Jonassen was the best of the bowlers with three wickets to her name, while Shikha Pandey took two wickets.  

With three matches left for both of these sides, they are both in an interesting position. Brisbane is in fifth while the Sixers are in sixth, but even if they keep banking wins in the last few matches they will need to turn around their run rates, which are some of the lowest in the competition this season.