Marcus Stoinis snatches victory for Melbourne Stars as Brisbane Heat implodes
There are calls for Marcus Stoinis to be considered for the Test team as a specialist batsman but it was his death bowling that put the lights out on Brisbane Heat’s season.
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Shane Warne reckons Marcus Stoinis should be considered for the Test team as a specialist batsman.
But it was Stoinis’s death bowling which shone brightest on Sunday night as the allrounder put the lights out on Brisbane Heat’s season with some penultimate over magic.
The Heat needed just 35 runs off the final 30 balls with six wickets in hand and two set batsman at the crease.
It was a dream situation and it played out like a nightmare, falling five runs short.
Glenn Maxwell’s Stars have now won three matches in a row and ended a five-match losing streak against bogey side the Heat.
The green team did it with nothing from Maxwell or Pete Handscomb with the bat.
On a night where former Test batsman Matt Renshaw and Nic Maddinson opened the bowling, the tactics from the skippers were obvious – pace off the ball, please.
Neither provided a breakthrough although it was fitting Stoinis faced up to Renshaw, given he has just pinched the Brisbane batsman’s place in the Test squad.
It was then even more fitting that Stoinis dismissed Renshaw as the Heat’s run chase started to slip.
Ricky Ponting questioned why Maddinson got the new ball instead of swing bowler Jackson Bird, but Maxi made up for that with the big wicket of Brendon McCullum (13 off 14).
The Bash Brothers were once again undone by spin as one-day leggie Adam Zampa trapped Chris Lynn lbw for a duck.
Lynn’s weakness against spin has cost him his one-day selection in a World Cup year and his failed sweep shot won’t help his case for a return.
It was a poor night for McCullum, who fumbled in the field and hip-and-shouldered teammate Brendan Doggett in the outer.
Maxwell used eight different bowlers in the first 10 overs.
But recognised allrounder Evan Gulbis wasn’t one of those eight bowlers, and didn’t get an over all night.
Gulbis has bowled in just two out of 11 matches and gone four games where he hasn’t been required to bat or bowl.
30.2 PERFECT OVERS
It was a golden run but boy did it disintegrate. With openers Marcus Stoinis and Ben Dunk settled at the crease after eight overs the Stars had scored 2-256 from their previous 182 balls across three matches.
And one of those wickets was Peter Handscomb’s irrelevant run-out on the last ball of an innings.
Yes, 14 bowlers from three attacks had combined for just one wicket in more than 30 overs.
Then, the green team lost a wicket in four of the next five overs and four of the final five overs.
They managed just three boundaries in the final 74 deliveries last night as they limped to the line. It appeared they were 20 runs short and it turned out they weren’t.
STOINIS IN MINT FORM
Marcus Stoinis’s rich form just keeps rolling. The allrounder will jet to Canberra after posting scores of 43 (29), 53 (45), 70no (65), 34 (22) and 78no (49) in his past five BBL matches.
Stoinis has also removed Alex Carey, Max Bryant, Matt Renshaw, Cameron White and Joe
Root in that patch plus Indian openers Rohit Sharma (twice) and Shikar Dhawan in the ODIs.
But hopefully he likes sightseeing given Australian coach Justin Langer forecast an unchanged line-up for Friday’s Test match.
Perhaps Stoinis can check out the Royal Australian Mint or the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Luckily for the Stars, Stoinis will only miss one BBL match – against Perth – if Langer backflips and does give him a baggy green.
SANDEEP NEARLY ON HIS WAY BACK
Chris Lynn and Moises Henriques be warned. They captain the Heat and the Sixers respectively and Nepalese tweaker Sandeep Lamichhane picked up 4-13 (19 balls) bowling to rival skippers from his four BBL matches before flying to Bangladesh.
Lamichhane is almost certain to return for the final two Stars games – against the Sixers and Heat – replacing Englishman Liam Plunkett, who has to leave after Sunday’s trip to Perth.
Lamichhane has continued his tidy form in Bangladesh, where he’s played under Sylhet Sixers skipper David Warner. Lamichhane’s return will leave the Stars at full-strength, so watch out if they charge into the finals.
BRAINS BEAT BASHERS
The big bashers imploded and then the classy batters nurdled and nudged. That’s what should’ve got Brisbane Heat home as Matt Renshaw and Jimmy Peirson put on a 57-run partnership small on boundaries but big on smart strokes.
With a comfortable required run-rate and long boundaries they were happy to run ones and twos to creep towards victory. Then, calamity. Both batsmen were removed by Stoinis as the heat went on Brisbane.
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