The Thunder opening pair of Hales and Gilkes made light work of the task in front of them, chasing down their target of 122 with just less than half the innings to spare
Sydney Showground: Brisbane Heat 121-6, Sydney Thunder 124-0 - Sydney Thunder won by 10 wickets
An utterly dominant performance with bat and ball saw Sydney Thunder humble Brisbane Heat to secure their second victory of the Big Bash season and jump off the bottom of the standings.
Thunder's disciplined bowling performance restricted Heat to a sub-par 121 for 6 at the Sydney Showground, as Chris Green led the way with miserly figures of 2 for 14 from his four overs.
And in response, the Thunder opening pair of Alex Hales and Matthew Gilkes made light work of the task in front of them, chasing down their target with just less than half the innings to spare.
Sydney Thunder beat Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash [Getty Images]
Matthew Gilkes made a half-century for Thunder in the chase [Getty Images]
Heat, who like Thunder went into the game with one win to their name in BBL12, endured a rotten powerplay - in which they managed just 26 runs for the loss of Max Bryant, Matt Renshaw and Sam Billings.
With the usually quick-scoring Colin Munro reduced to a low-key anchor role (43 off 47 balls), the Kiwi and Heat captain Jimmy Peirson did stabilise the innings with a fourth-wicket stand worth 51.
But that took eight-and-a-half overs, and by the time Peirson was dismissed by Usman Qadir for 27, Brisbane were still well shy of three figures, with little more than a quart of their overs remaining.
Chris Green returned excellent figures of 2 for 14 [Getty Images]
Thunder jump above Heat in the BBL table [Getty Images]
Xavier Bartlett did his best to add some respectability to the Heat total with a 17-ball 28, which included four fours, but 121 was never going to be enough to defend.
After Brisbane managed just one six across their innings, Gilkes hit three of his own in the chase as both he and Hales made half-centuries.
Gilkes ended 56 not out and Hales was unbeaten on 59 when Thunder eased to victory in 11.4 overs, handing a massive net run rate boost to the side which had suffered a major hit when they were bowled out for just 15 by Adelaide Strikers earlier in the season.