One Big Bash record might not be enough for Stars batsman Marcus Stoinis
Plundering a mammoth 147 not out has set Melbourne Stars opener Marcus Stoinis on the path towards another Big Bash run-scoring record. Will any rival bowling attack be able to stop him?
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Marcus Stoinis is on track to bust another Big Bash record with D’Arcy Short’s season-best haul of 637 runs well within the sights of the hulking Melbourne Stars opener.
Through nine games so far this season Stoinis, who sailed past Short’s record individual score of 122 with ease when he smashed 147 not out on Sunday night, has compiled 478 runs.
The 30-year-old is averaging just under 80 and has up to eight more games, with five regular season fixtures and possibly two finals, to score as many more runs as possible.
He should easily score the 160 needed to beat Short’s season record, set last year for the Hobart Hurricanes, in just 11 innings.
The evolution of the Big Bash has taken the season from eight home and away games through the first five years to 14 this season and seen the run hauls soar.
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Given the extra matches Stoinis could even push towards 1000 runs should his electric form, which includes four other half-centuries, continue.
This season Stoinis has been part of record BBL partnerships for the opening wicket, in his 207-run stand with Hilton Cartwright on Sunday, and for the first wicket, scoring 123 with Nick Larkin against the Sydney Thunder on January 2.
Stoinis was so dominant in his run-spree with Cartwright at the MCG that he reached 100, off 60 balls, before his opening partner had even reached 50.
“I was just out there the whole time enjoying the party,” Cartwright said.
“We had a 200 run partnership and I hadn’t even got to 50 when he got to 100. That just shows the level he was on, how amazing he was.”
The innings sparked debate about whether Stoinis, who also earned a $980,000 payday at last month’s IPL auction should be in India with the Australian one-day team, having been dropped after a mediocre World Cup.
Stoinis said he knew what he had to do to get back in the national side.
But making more runs for the Stars, winning more games for the ladder leaders and having fun doing it remained his priority.
“I’m just going to express myself on the field, let my cricket do the talking,” he said.
“I’ll perform as consistently as I can, win games for my team and also at the end of the day have as much fun as I can.
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“We have worked hard as a group … for everyone to feel empowered to express themselves and more often than not it comes out in really good ways.
“That’s what our environment is about, we want to leave here, with everyone saying, ‘That time I played for the Stars was the best time of my life’.”