Watch: Birsbane Heat’s Josh Brown begins new year with fireworks in BBL at Gabba

Brisbane Heat opener Josh Brown welcomed 2023 with fireworks at the Gabba as he smashed Sydney Sixers bowlers for a 19-ball half-century on Sunday.

Brown, playing just his second BBL match, hit unbelievable boundaries – six maximums and four boundaries – to race away to 62 runs from 23 deliveries at a strike rate of 269.57. Some of the sixes from Brown went as high as on the stadium’s second tier.

“I just watched the ball and hit it as far as I can, yeah, that was my plan. Pretty simple,” Brown said to broadcasters after being dismissed.

Watch some of the stunning shots from the blade of Josh Brown here:

Brown’s sensational innings set the tone for Brisbane Heat’s middle order as they ramped up 224 in 20 overs leaving Sydney Sixers to a daunting task of a 225-run target.

The right-hander was dismissed in the seventh over, but had done the damage in the powerplay.

Interestingly, Brown was picked from Grade Cricket by Brisbane Heat as a replacement player.

Australia star Glenn Maxwell was also astonished with the pure hitting of Brown in the commentary box.

Twitter was filled with praise for the batter.