Melbourne Stars 6 for 168 (Maxwell 82) beat Sydney Sixers 74 (Lamichhane 3-11, Zampa 2-15) by 94 runs
Glenn Maxwell‘s brilliance and Sydney Sixers’ total collapse combined to serve up a semi-final berth for Melbourne Stars against Hobart Hurricanes, and a home semi-final for Melbourne Renegades, in an afternoon of high drama at the MCG.
In the final qualifying game of the Big Bash League 2018-19, the Stars looked to be struggling to mount a defendable total in the first 15 overs of their innings, before Maxwell did nothing short of detonating as 77 runs were piled up in the final five. Maxwell’s innings, as captain of the Stars, not only pushed the hosts to a total unimaginable with five overs remaining, but appeared also to knock the stuffing out of the Sixers.
Their innings was to trigger a series of surrenders in the face of Melbourne pressure, as all the Stars bowlers enjoyed success – none more so than the spin pair of Sandeep Lamichhane and Adam Zampa.
Before Maxwell
Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques sent the Stars in to bat and, after a shaky opening over by Lloyd Pope, of which Marcus Stoinis took full advantage, the visitors appeared to have much the measure of their hosts on a pitch that offered some variable pace to the bowlers. Merely 1 for 39 from the Powerplay, 2 for 63 from 10 overs and 3 for 91 from 15 overs, the Stars were battling to put up a score that looked capable of being defended even if the surface offered some encouragement to spin.
Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe both delivered economical spells, aided also by Sean Abbott. Maxwell, meanwhile, had fashioned his way to 17 from 20 without quite looking at ease. As captain he had witnessed Peter Handscomb depart after building a similar platform, and could not afford to do likewise. The cogs of Maxwell’s brain could be seen almost visibly to be ticking over as he pondered ways of lifting the Stars to higher ground. First, he sized up his erstwhile Test match team-mate Lyon, bowler of the 17th over.
After Maxwell
Jumping down the track to Lyon’s second ball of the over, Maxwell found sweet contact and the crowd beyond long-on. When Lyon adjusted his length, Maxwell hung back to pull wide of long-on for four more. Sixteen from that over, despite the run out of Dwayne Bravo, had Maxwell and the Stars looking up, and they did not look back. Two fours and a six meant Abbott’s 18th over reaped 15 runs; a six and a four meant 15 more from Tom Curran’s 19th.
But the best was saved for last, as Maxwell leapt three times into Ben Dwarshuis in the 20th, taking full advantage of the left-armer missing his ideal yorker length on both full and short sides. At the death, Maxwell had piled up 65 from 22 balls before falling, while the Stars’ tally of 77 between overs 16-20 was the most ever in the closing five overs of a BBL innings. At the end of a summer of some frustrations for Maxwell, he had delivered the kind of innings to underline the rare nature of his talent.
Full report to follow