English batsman Tom Banton smashed five sixes off consecutive deliveries to reignite the spirits of the Brisbane crowd largely dampened by rain during the Big Bash League encounter between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder.
Opening the batting for Brisbane, Banton smashed a 19-ball 56 to guide his team to a score of 119 after eight overs. However, the highlight of the innings came in the fourth over when Banton decided to cut loose against Australian off-spinner Arjun Nair.
After a dot ball on the first delivery of his very first over, things headed south for Nair as he was taken to the cleaners by Banton.
The first of the five sixes disappeared over the fence between deep mid-wicket and long-on before Banton launched the next delivery high into the air straight down the ground. The long-on fielder managed to grasp the ball only for him to step over the fence and drop it.
The Englishman then added insult to injury when he heaved one over deep mid-wicket for his third six. Then next one was sent into the crowd over long-on before Banton danced down the track to lift another six in the deep mid-wicket region to complete the 30-run over.
The sheer carnage from Banton along with a blistering cameo from Chris Lynn saw the duo add 90 runs for the first wicket in just 5 overs. It allowed Brisbane to post a mammoth total, one that proved to be too big an ask for Sydney who lost the game by 16 runs by the D/L method after their innings was further reduced to just five overs. Thunder finished with a score of 61/4 from the five overs to fall short of the revised target and lose the game.
Banton has been turning heads in the past few months and was picked up recently at the IPL auction by Kolkata Knight Riders for a bargain at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
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