Brisbane Heat beat Melbourne Stars by 10 wickets
Nathan Lyon’s Sydney Sixers stand in the way of Melbourne Stars reaching the semi-finals after the Brisbane Heat powered their way to a 10-wicket victory at the Gabba.
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Nathan Lyon and his Sydney Sixers stand in the way of Melbourne Stars reaching the semi-finals after the green team was dispatched from the top four at the Gabba.
Stars conceded the worst power-play in Big Bash League history as Brisbane Heat raced to 0/94 off six overs to leave the green team’s season teetering on the edge.
Brisbane were on track to belt more than 300 runs as it won by 10 wickets with 60 balls remaining.
Stars suddenly must upset the second-placed Sixers at the MCG on Saturday or they will fail to reach the finals for the second consecutive season.
Lyon is set to be named in Sydney’s squad on Saturday to play his first Big Bash game for the summer while English gun Tom Curran will play his final game before departing for an ODI series in the West Indies.
The green team needed just one win from its final three games to play finals but has been smashed by Perth and Brisbane on the road.
Friday night was billed as New Zealand warrior Brendan McCullum’s farewell match but six-machine did not even get a bat.
Instead Brisbane’s newest Bash Brothers — openers Max Bryant and Ben Cutting — chased down Melbourne’s 8/156 by themselves.
The airborne batting had fans ducking for cover as the pair whacked 13 sixes and 10 fours to overtake Stars in the top four.
Heat’will now cheer on Hobart against Sydney Thunder in Canberra today and Sixers against Stars as they hope to cling on to fourth position.
Stars raced to 1/48 after five overs but Josh Lalor removed Pete Handscomb and captain Glenn Maxwell in the final over of the power-play to leave the innings resting on Stoinis’s bat.
MARCUS MATE-LESS
SHANE Warne was half right. Last week Warne told The Herald Sun that Stoinis boasted intensity, X-factor and was a matchwinner. Warne said Stoinis would drag teams with him, much like Andrew Flintoff, Merv Hughes or Darren Gough. Well, Stoinis slugged 81 (51) to validate Warne’s love. But unfortunately he didn’t drag anybody with him. Stoinis score more than half of Melbourne’s runs before he was run-out, just as he was on 99 at the Gabba last summer. Stoinis is averaging 63.1 runs at a strike-rate of 135.1 and has 14 wickets in the BBL. The player of the tournament podium is surely down to Stoinis and Hobart openers D’Arcy Short and Matthew Wade. Stoinis deserves to be favourite.
LIGHT BEER GOES OFF TAP
MICHAEL Beer has only played four out of the past 20 matches but retires with a brilliant Big Bash League career. Beer bowled 1203 deliveries in his 58 matches for a career economy rate of just 6.7 runs. It truly was light Beer with 53 of those deliveries bowled to Heat captain Chris Lynn, who failed to smash a six. Beer, 34, has also served as a mentor in the past 12 months and walks out a popular figure in green. Well played.
GROWING TIRED OF THE SCHEDULE
IT was a TV timeslot where you can bare all but it wouldn’t surprise if barely any young Stars fans stayed awake for it. Friday night’s 11.15pm finish (AEDST) at the Gabba followed Sunday night’s 12.30am loss in Perth, which was also a school night. Is that family-friendly for kids watching back home on TV dressed in green? It wasn’t exactly as if the later start helped fill the Gabba with only 21,391 attending. The scheduling helped Channel 7 show Better Homes and Gardens before the Big Bash, which felt like the wait for Friday night footy way back in the 1990s.
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Originally published as Brisbane Heat beat Melbourne Stars by 10 wickets
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