The Melbourne Stars' Hilton Cartwright has left the BBL stunned with one of the biggest strikes of the season but it wasn't enough to book the side a place in the finals as the Sydney Sixers won by five wickets.
The stars had aligned in the triple header for the final day of the Big Bash regular season with the Brisbane Heat defeating the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Renegades pulling off a massive upset against the Hobart Hurricanes.
It left the door open for the Sixers to snatch the minor premiership or the Stars to sneak into the finals.
To do so the Melbourne side needed all four points, leaving games within the game.
Unfortunately, at hiccup at the start of the Stars' innings saw the side only reach 3/72.
But the fireworks happened after the 10th over for the Stars with Glenn Maxwell pounding 66 off 41 while Hilton Cartwright finished the season with three massive sixes off the last four overs as they set the Sixers 6/177.
Cartwright clubbed the first one over mid-wicket a long way over the fence.
Hilton Cartwright can hit a huge ball.
After a dot ball, Cartwright launched the next one down the ground for another massive maximum.
The commentators were already losing it with the shot but the last ball took the cake.
Ball bowled a full toss on leg stump and Cartwright thumped the ball into the second tier.
"That is the biggest of the lot, that is the biggest of the tournament," Mark Howard screamed. "That's up the back of the upper deck. Hilton Cartwright take a bow. That is massive, huge, gigantic, take your pick."
Shane Warne could only add "wow" in the moment.
"Upper decker, they've both said that's huge," Warne added. "Can we see that again? That's gone miles."
The commentators were talking about how big it was, comparing it to the different colour seat that represents a 122m six that Simon O'Donnell hit in a Shield game in 1993 against NSW.
Warne said it was about 80m to the boundary, another 10m to the fence, plus another 20-30m, he said "It's got to be 120-125m".
"Tell you what, it's close I reckon," he added.
But the Stars' first 10 overs left them vulnerable with the Sixers deflating the fixture, passing the score in the eighth over.
The Sixers have wrapped up the minor premiership.
While there was still a game to play, it would have been a near miracle for the Stars to reach the finals but the defending champion Sixers instead cemented the spot as the team to beat in the finals.
It will see the playoffs, starting Friday, shape up like this:
The Eliminator - Brisbane Heat (4th) Vs Adelaide Strikers (5th) @ The Gabbba, Friday January 29 at 7.15pm AEDT
The Qualifier - Sydney Sixers (1st) Vs Perth Scorchers (2nd) @ Manuka Oval, Saturday January 30 at 7.15pm AEDT
The Knock Out - Sydney Thunder (3rd) Vs Winner of The Eliminator @ Manuka Oval, Sunday January 31 at 7.15pm AEDT
The Challenger - Loser of Qualifier Vs Winner of Knock Out @ TBA, Thursday February 4 at 7.15pm AEDT
The Final - Winner of Qualifier Vs Winner of Challenger @ TBA, Saturday February 6 at 7.15pm AEDT
As the Sixers look for back-to-back titles, the Stars will be lamenting what could have been.
Glenn Maxwell did everything he could but it wasn't enough.
After winning just five games this season, Shane Warne said the Stars were just "not good enough".
"For the team they had, there's something wrong," Warne said.
Despite not losing players to international duty, Warne added that it was clear the players that were expected to perform didn't perform.
"Thinking about the Stars squad, they didn't get enough from Andre Fletcher," Adam Gilchrist said. "He played one decent innings, he showed us a couple of good shots every game. They did take a bit of a hit when Jonny Bairstow pulled out just before the tournament because he was called into the English Test team, so that meant they rushed to get a replacement and that was Andre Fletcher and he came out here and never looked like he was going to lead and dominate any bowling attacks. That disrupted the plans they had in place."
Updates
Blunder costs Stars despite monster six
The Sydney Sixers are your BBL|10 minor premiers while the Melbourne Stars will miss the finals in seventh regardless of how the rest of the game plays out.
The Heat will host the Strikers in The Eliminator on Friday, the Sixers will host the Scorchers in The Qualifier on Saturday, while the Thunder waiting for the winner in The Knockout on Sunday.
It happened as the Sixers claimed the Bash Boost as they only needed 72 to claim the extra point, which they did with the last ball of the eighth over.
The Sixers reached 3/85 off 10 overs but the Stars will be lamenting what could have been.
Channel 10 political editor Peter van Onselen slammed the Stars strategy with Glenn Maxwell slamming 66 off 41 balls but made most of his impact in the second half of the innings.
Melbourne is going to lose this match bc they didn’t open with Maxwell and Sydney get the one point after 10 overs. Where’s the strategy…. 🤦♂️
He was only able to take off after the dismissal of Marcus Stoinis, Seb Gotch and Nick Larkin for starts, as they soaked up the early balls.
After winning just five games this season, Shane Warne said the Stars were just "not good enough".
"For the team they had, there's something wrong," Warne said.
Despite not losing players to international duty, Warne added that it was clear the players that were expected to perform didn't perform.
"Thinking about the Stars squad, they didn't get enough from Andre Fletcher," Adam Gilchrist said. "He played one decent innings, he showed us a couple of good shots every game. They did take a bit of a hit when Jonny Bairstow pulled out just before the tournament because he was called into the English Test team, so that meant they rushed to get a replacement and that was Andre Fletcher and he came out here and never looked like he was going to lead and dominate any bowling attacks. That disrupted the plans they had in place."
'Holy crap': Monster six stuns BBL
The Melbourne Stars have hit 6/177 off their 20 overs but a 20 run final over has left the BBL raving.
Hilton Cartwright smashed three massive sixes with the third blowing the BBL away.
Cartwright clubbed the first one over mid-wicket a long way over the fence.
After a dot ball, Cartwright launched the next one down the ground for another massive maximum.
The commentators were already losing it with the shot but the last ball took the cake.
Ball bowled a full toss on leg stump and Cartwright thumped the ball into the second tier.
"That is the biggest of the lot, that is the biggest of the tournament," Mark Howard screamed. "That's up the back of the upper deck. Hilton Cartwright take a bow. That is massive, huge, gigantic, take your pick."
Shane Warne could only add "wow" in the moment.
"Upper decker, they've both said that's huge," Warne added. "Can we see that again? That's gone miles."
While it's been a season with some big hits, including Ben McDermott's that went out of Manuka Oval, an upper decker at the MCG is pretty huge.
The commentators were talking about how big it was, comparing it to the different colour seat that represents a 122m six that Simon O'Donnell hit in a Shield game in 1993 against NSW.
Warne said it was about 80m to the boundary, another 10m to the fence, plus another 20-30m, he said "It's got to be 120-125m".
"Tell you what, it's close I reckon," he added.
Cartwright goes mental as Stars hit 6/177
Hilton Cartwright has punished 20 off the final over with three massive sixes as the Stars reached 6/177.
But it was on the bat of Glenn Maxwell that the side got there.
However, the Stars may have made a tactical blunder by leaving Maxwell to fourth as they only made 3/72 off the first 10 overs.
Melbourne is going to lose this match bc they didn’t open with Maxwell and Sydney get the one point after 10 overs. Where’s the strategy…. 🤦♂️
The Stars need all the points to make the finals but will have to keep the Sixers under 71 for the first 10 overs, a mark that would see the Sixers claim the minor premiership.
72 on board for Stars
The Melbourne Stars need Glenn Maxwell to go huge but will need to keep the Sixers to less than 72 to get through to the finals.
To keep any chance alive, the Stars need all the points from today's clash but after a brisk start, it slowed as the Stars focused on getting a big score on the board.
Glenn Maxwell is the key for the Stars.
Bittersweet result for Sydney finalists
Canberra is on standby to host Big Bash finals with confirmation of venues set to come after a blockbuster last-day triple header of matches which will determine who makes the playoffs.
Both the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder could be forced to play “home” finals interstate because of border restrictions.
But the ladder-leading Perth Scorchers could get a leg-up should they finish on top because of Cricket Australia’s quarantine plan with the WA government making entry possible.
Any teams that have to travel to the west from states considered even “low risk” COVID-19 spots, including the home team, would train and play while in quarantine.
Finals venues won’t be confirmed by CA until after the final match, but it’s understood that games in Sydney in the opening round are unlikely.
Earlier this month seven BBL games were moved as a result of state border closures and related impacts.
Five of those matches were scheduled to be played in Sydney, with the other two originally set for Melbourne.
There have been no BBL games in Sydney this season. The Adelaide Oval, MCG and Marvel Stadium have continued to host matches in the run to the finals.
The Sixers could take the top spot on the ladder, to host The Qualifier against the Scorchers, while the Thunder will host The Knockout against the winner of The Eliminator between fourth Vs fifth.
The fight for the best players is already a tough one for the BBL, but a move by a rival South African competition could make things even more challenging.
The consensus was the Big Bash was as good as it’s ever been this season, but anyone not moving forward is sitting still and that could mean more innovations.
