Maxwell puts Test snub behind with match-winning hand against Sixers
He followed up an unbeaten half-century with two key outfield catches
He followed up an unbeaten half-century with two key outfield catches
Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: Rashad Mahbub
This concludes our BBL coverage for today. We appreciate you being here with us today. I'm signing off on behalf of Vairavan, Rashad, and the entire crew.
Player of the Match Glenn Maxwell: "(Tonight's win) It was extraordinary! Sometimes wickets like that make far better games, I reckon it's not always the flat wicket, it's sort of pretty crazy, but a finish like that was so good. And they were right behind us much like they were a couple of nights ago against Renegades. To have that win keeps just in the hunt, sort of clawing our way along here. (Batting approach) To be fair, I missed multiple balls throughout my innings. There was no real way to get any sort of rhythm on that pitch. I was probably a bit fortunate. I kept on playing and missing when the ball was on the stumps and then I was able to cash in but yeah on those wickets you need a bit of luck and we sort of tried to help the Sixers with a few dropped catches tonight (laughter) but thank God we created enough opportunities to get the job done. (Vince's catch) Yeah, they would have put a hole in the roof (the Marvel Stadium), it was pretty high and to be fair, it went straight too. I just had to find a way I knew it probably wasn't going to go in clean, but if I could just sort of stay at the moment and sort of make sure it stayed off the ground. Luckily didn't have to move too far. It would have landed on my head if I had to stay there. (Cleared the MCG roof) Yeah, it's probably a little bit tougher than the one in the Gabba, to be honest, the degree of difficulty was high. But to be honest, it was such a big wicket, James Vince. He's had so much success against the Stars over the last little period and adds another 50 tonight, but thankfully he didn't make it pay it too much. (Three wins in a row) We'll give it every chance but the feeling the group's been really consistent the whole way through. We've kept us all on our faces and kept coming out and trying our best to win games with cricket. Winning momentum is quite funny in T20 cricket, once you get on it, it's really fun to be on but we've probably been on the other side of it to start most seasons. So to be on that side of it winning now is really fun."
In front of the home fans, the Melbourne Stars fascinatingly stole the game from the Sydney Sixers! Philippe lost his wicket inside the powerplay. Duckett missed an easy catch of the danger man Vince. The Sixers were making good progress towards their 157-run target. But during the Power Surge, the home team was able to turn things around! Henriques and Vince, the set batters, were both taken out by Stoinis. James Vince got 53 runs off 44 deliveries, his fifth consecutive fifty against the Melbourne Stars. Maxwell caught Vince and Henriques' catches. The Sydney Sixers got entirely off course and lost their bearings after losing those two important wickets. Siddle bowled out Silk and gave up only four runs in the next over. Sixers lost three wickets and scored only eleven runs during the Power Surge, which was the turning point of the match. Usama made a fantastic low catch jumping forward while bowling. In the end, the asking rate increased, which was a little too much for the lower-order batters to handle. Among the Stars' bowling lineup, Steketee took the most wickets with three. Stoinis, Usama, and Siddle each took two wickets. With tonight's victory, the Melbourne Stars kept their hopes alive for this tournament.
Melbourne Stars won the match by 16 runs
SA Abbott c Usama Mir b Steketee 5 (8m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100
18 runs off 3 balls, need 3 sixes from Abbott
H Kerr c Duckett b Steketee 21 (26m 15b 1x4 1x6) SR: 140
Walt: "This isn't over yet, over in the BPL Rangur Riders needed 26 off the last over, and Nural Hassan hit 6,4,4,6,4,6 to win it! " Can Hayden Kerr replicate something similar tonight?
Steketee to bowl the last over, 20 runs off 6 balls
He followed up an unbeaten half-century with two key outfield catches