On December 27, the Brisbane Heat pacer bowled the most expensive spell in the Big Bash League history. Bagging an unwanted record, Guthrie conceded a jaw-dropping 70 runs off his four-over spell in Heat’s defeat against the Melbourne Stars.
Left-arm quick Liam Guthrie picked up two wickets on the day, but in giving away a horrible 17.50 rpo, he ended with a record that he would’ve never ever wanted. Guthrie went past Ben Dwarshuis, who previously held the record for the most expensive BBL spell.
Last season, Dwarshuis gave away a whopping 61 runs off his full quota against the Stars to become the then holder of the most expensive spell in the history of the league.
Guthrie didn’t just top the list of bowlers with the least miserly spell in the Australian T20 league, he also joined Indian fast-bowler Basil Thampi in a list of bowlers to have given 70 runs in an outing in the shortest form of the game.
Thampi, Kerala’s bright young right-arm pacer, bagged the unwanted feat during an IPL 2018 fixture for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Playing against the power-packed Royal Challengers Bangalore batting unit, he conceded 0/70 off his four overs. Just like Guthrie’s spell proved to be a major dent to Heat’s chances of victory, Thampi’s spell, too, held SRH’s wings against RCB.
Popular social media stats and trivia recorder Kausthub Gudipati listed Guthrie’s 2/70 versus Stars as also the most expensive spell in a T20 game when the bowler has taken two or more wickets. Guthrie is only ahead of Raymon Riefer and Chris Wood. While Riefer’s 67 off four overs came in a Caribbean Premier League 2018 game for Barbados Tridents, Wood equalled him a year later in the T20 Blast for Hampshire.
Interestingly, Guthrie hasn’t always been this expensive. Before his horror outing against Stars, the pacer had given away only 7.33 rpo in his four BBL 2021-22 outings. The 24-year-old quick has been one of the better performers with the ball for Brisbane Heat.
