First-ball ‘duck’ for Simmons as Heat lose

West Indies limited opener Lendl Simmons … suffered the indignity of a first ball ‘duck’.

PERTH, Australia, CMC – West Indies limited overs opener Lendl Simmons scored a first ball ‘duck’ as his Brisbane Heat went down to Perth Scorchers by nine wickets in the Big Bash League here Boxing Day. In a low-scoring encounter at the WACA, Heat could only muster 117 for seven off their 20 overs, with the 30-year-old right-handed Simmons dismissed off the second ball of the game.

West Indies limited opener Lendl Simmons … suffered the indignity of a first ball ‘duck’.
West Indies limited opener Lendl Simmons … suffered the indignity of a first ball ‘duck’.

He was caught behind off left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff with just two runs on the board. Captain Chris Lynn lifted the innings with an unbeaten 75 off 58 balls, with three fours and four sixes, and was just one of two players in double figures and the only one to pass ten.

In reply, Scorchers raced to their target with nearly five overs to spare with captain Michael Klinger stoking an unbeaten 53 off 42 deliveries.

He put on 46 for the first wicket with Marcus Harris (36) and a further 70 in an unbroken second wicket partnership with Ashton Agar who was unbeaten on 24 at the end. Simmons’ West Indies teammate and fellow Trinidadian, Samuel Badree, went wicket-less from four overs of leg-spin which cost 26 runs.