BBL Finals: Melbourne Stars collapse as Sydney Sixers cruise to home final

Melbourne Stars' shocking finals record continues after they posted their lowest ever BBL score to lose the qualifier by 43 runs, even after restricting the Sydney Sixers to what had looked a sub-par total. 

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This was the Big Crash of the Big Bash.

Yet for Melbourne Stars it was simply another rehash.  The Stars – historical kings of the home-and-away season – are now 2-8 in the games that matter most.

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When it comes to the finals they are anything but Stars. They morph into the Melbourne Cards, such is the ease with which they fold.

Friday night’s 43-run loss to Sydney hit their maiden title hopes for Sixers. In the club’s 95th game it was bowled out for less than 100 runs for the first time, all-out for a franchise-low 99.

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Sixers skipper Moises Henriques conceded that the target of 143 at the MCG was well under-par, and yet it proved to be plenty, just like Melbourne Renegades’ 5-145 in last year’s Grand Final.

When Josh Hazlewood’s yorker castled Nathan Coulter-Nile the Stars were 7-66, and that ball marked nine overs since they’d hit a boundary.

At that point the Stars had lost 14-106 from their past 20 overs across two finals. It was more madcap batting from a line-up that is either Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell or bust.

Well, that’s now four consecutive games where it’s gone bust.

Josh Hazlewood was in devastating form at the MCG.

Stoinis, Maxwell and Nic Maddinson all gifted their wickets to appreciative bowlers. Maddinson received a half-tracker from Nathan Lyon which deserved punishment.

Instead he leaned back and top-edged it straight to Steve O’Keefe. With the game on Maxwell’s bat, O’Keefe tempted him to go long and instead he got out as James Vince juggled a catch at long-off.

Shane Warne said it was a strange shot. Even best mate Aaron Finch was surprised by it.

It was a modest performance to match the embarrassing MCG crowd of 13,275, a figure that will leave administrators seeing red today.

Steve O'Keefe was named man of the match for his 2 for 22 from four including the key wicket of Glenn Maxwell.

After 23 games for the Stars Maddinson is averaging a disastrous 11.2 at the miserable strike-rate of 93.9.

Then again, Seb Gotch’s highest score is 14 this season and he’s striking at 80.9.

The SCG has won hosting rights for next week’s Grand Final and the Stars will have to bounce back against either the Strikers or the Thunder – whoever wins at Adelaide Oval on Saturday – to earn a second crack at the Sixers.

ZAMPA OUTSMARTS THE LAWBOOK

ADAM Zampa outsmarted the rule book last night as he mirrored Alex Hales’ move that Ricky Ponting slammed as “cheating” and “not in the spirit of the game” on Thursday night. Zampa stood millimetres inside the inner circle last night and then shuffled backwards as soon as bowler Marcus Stoinis released his delivery, anticipating a slog from Sixers skipper Moises Henriques.

Adam Zampa was a gun with ball in hand and in the field, but was let down by his side's batsmen.

But Zampa then ran back inside the circle to catch Henriques, who scooped a ball to short fine leg, and the dismissal was eventually ticked off by the third umpire.

Pete Handscomb admitted: “There’s that many rules of cricket, this is not one of them that I know” however it was a legal move because Zampa was stationed inside the circle when Stoinis let go of the ball.

Sorry, Ricky, it might be a loophole – but it’s perfectly legal.

COOL CHANGE, COOLER SMITH

MELBOURNE Stars huddled in celebration of Steve Smith’s wicket as a relaxed Smith (on five runs) casually jogged through for a bye in one of the more bizarre moments last night.

Smith ducked a Haris Rauf short ball and the Zing bails lit up, striking optimism that the Test legend had knocked over his own stumps.

Replays showed Smith was nowhere near the poles, instead Melbourne’s cool change elicited a gust of wind so strong that they knocked off the bails that, in other games, have been so stubborn that they’ve appeared to be superglued on.

KOHLI? NEXT. SMITH? NEXT.

TWO weeks after taming Virat Kohli, Adam Zampa turned his attention to Steve Smith and again came up trumps.

Australia’s frontline white-ball spinner landed a wrong-un outside off stump and as Smith wound up for a big slog-sweep, a deflection was gobbled up by Gotch.

Smith was bewildered by the dismissal although Zampa was clearly causing him trouble, putting down a caught-and-bowled chance in the same over. Openers Josh Philippe and James Vince navigated a wicket-less power-play last night, but that partnership lasted just three Zampa balls as he put Sydney in a spin.

Originally published as BBL Finals: Melbourne Stars collapse as Sydney Sixers cruise to home final