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The Perth Scorchers have run away with an easy 40-run BBL victory as the Brisbane Heat made a mess of another run chase on the Gold Coast.
Brisbane's Big Bash League chasing struggles have been amplified with another limp effort in pursuit of Perth's 149 on the Gold Coast.
The Heat managed just 109 in reply to the Scorchers' 6-149 at a near-capacity Metricon Stadium, heaping more pressure on a struggling batting unit eagerly awaiting AB de Villiers' arrival on January 14.
Chris Lynn managed 14 from 21 balls as batsmen fell around him in an ugly top-order collapse, with Zahir Khan (19 off 10) becoming the first No.11 to top score in a BBL innings.
The result breathed life into the Scorchers' (2-3) season and spelt problems for the Heat, who fell to 1-3 despite being the pre-tournament favourites thanks to their potential with the bat.
Their two previous losses have come in similarly-meek fashion in chases of 172 and 167.
Their only win came when batting first, slamming 4-209 in their 20 overs against the Sydney Sixers.
Marsh (26 off 19) and Cameron Bancroft (50 from 42) powered the innings after opting to bat first, Afghan leg-spinner Zahir taking 2-18 from his four overs and celebrating with a Gangnam Style dance after his second wicket.
And Ben Laughlin took 2-32, in the process becoming the first to 100 BBL wickets in his 78th game.
It looked a gettable target but the Heat were never in it, slumping to 4-38 after six overs and 7-51 when Lynn found the man at deep mid-on.
Max Bryant ran past Ashton Agar's (2-16 from four overs) first delivery to be stumped while Matt Renshaw chipped a return catch to Chris Jordan.
Fellow spinner Fawad Ahmed joined in on the fun, taking 3-16 from four overs as the Heat struggled to even find singles.
"We room together in the hotels and every time we walk out the door we're like 'c'mon let's build this partnership' and tonight we did that nicely," Agar said of his relationship with Ahmed.
The game appeared to be finished in the 17th over when the ball pinged off Zahir's boot quickly back onto the stumps.
But the bails, despite flashing, somehow remained on.
It mattered little however as Laughlin was dismissed in the next over, the Heat all out with eight balls to spare.
"It's been the story of our season so far; they'll be better for it," Laughlin said of his batsmen.
"It's tough to chase; you need the big boys at the top to come off."
The Heat's English import Tom Banton is slated to play four more games before being replaced by South African great de Villiers for the final six games and potential finals series.
A crowd of 20,135 was on hand to watch the match, the biggest for a cricket game at Metricon Stadium.
