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Matthew Renshaw has unwittingly exposed a curious catching rule as Brisbane avoided another BBL batting meltdown to beat Hobart with 10 balls to spare.

Brisbane have stumbled into the Big Bash League's top three after Matthew Renshaw unwittingly exploiting a curious catching rule as Hobart almost pinched a win at the Gabba.

The Hurricanes managed just 9-126 from their allotment, the Heat now 4-3 for the season after reaching the total with 10 balls and five wickets in hand on Thursday.

It was the Heat's first successful run chase from four attempts this season and they made hard work of it, losing 4-19 just when they appeared to be cruising.

But Ben Cutting (43 off 29) went large and Jimmy Peirson (23 off 25) steadied the ship following the horror run-out of Chris Lynn (nine) to guide them home to the relief of the 29,749 fans.

It came after returning Test batsman Matthew Wade (61 off 46) fell victim to a divisive catching law changed nearly seven years ago.

The left-hander was doing his best to lift the Hurricanes to a reasonable total, before finding Matthew Renshaw on the mid-on rope.

Renshaw caught the ball, stumbled backwards and lobbed it in the air as he fell over the boundary before jumping again and parrying the ball back to Tom Banton.

The catch was reviewed and after a lengthy delay Wade, who admitted he wasn't sure of the rule, was sent on his way.

Not that Renshaw knew it, but a rule change in October 2013 designed to encourage more athletic fielding meant his catch was legal.

The rule states the fielder, as long as first contact with the ball is made inside the boundary, can parry the ball as many times as they like while airborne outside the boundary.

"I got myself into a bit of a tangle ... didn't know the rules, sort of thought if I stay in the air here I can hit it to myself," he said.

"I got a terrible hit and went straight to my twin Tommy Banton.

"Apparently you can just keep hitting the ball up as long as you're in the air; so maybe we keep practising that."

The sequence was a polarising one but it was nothing new, with England's Sam Billings, Glenn Maxwell and Josh Lalor executing the play in recent years.

Wade held no grudge but said there may finally be some clarity around the law that could lead to more creative efforts in the field.

"If you can just keep jumping up and tapping it ... I think that's when the rule might get exposed," he said.

"Maybe players could expose it a little, but you'd have to do a hell of a job to do it."

Scott Boland (3-16) was the best with the ball for Hobart while Lalor (3-21) and Ben Laughlin (2-21) led the Heat's attack.