The Melbourne Stars reached the top of the points table in the BBL with a win over the Perth Scorchers in match 26 played at the WACA in Perth today.
Batting first after winning the toss, the Scorchers innings got off to a horrible start with wickets falling at an alarming rate right from the second over. The Stars bowlers combined brilliantly to reduce the Scorchers to 34 for 5 in the 8th over.
Promoted to no. 6 today, Andrew Tye started to put the innings back on track with a partnership of 44 for the 7th wicket with Ashton Turner and took the score to 78, but then another 2 wickets fell quickly and the team slumped to 83 for 7. England all-rounder Tim Bresnan and left-arm spinner Ashton Agar then combined to string together a 51 run stand to take the score to a fighting 134 for 7 at the end of 20 overs.
The Stars run chase began the way it always does, with Luke Wright and in-form left-hander Rob Quiney starting off confidently at a brisk rate. They gave their team a start of 31 in less than 4 overs before Luke Wright lost his wicket, getting caught at fine leg trying to hook a bouncer. Quiney, in the company of Pietersen, kept playing shots until his dismissal for 35 off 23 balls in the 8th over with the score at 56.
Test match star Handscomb couldn’t do much and was out for just 3, but Marcus Stoinis, coming in at 5 today, ahead of captain David Hussey, made the chase look easy and sealed it with Pietersen in the 18th over with an unbeaten partnership of 55, scoring 40. Earlier in the day, in match 25, the Sydney Thunder made light work of the Sydney Sixers in the Sydney Derby at the SCG. Having restricted the Sixers to just 99 for the loss of 9 wickets, the Thunder eased home in just 10 overs losing only 2 wickets in the process.
Batting first after winning the toss, the Sixers were never in the game right from the start, losing experienced opener Micheal Lumb in the third over with the score at 14. From being 52 for 2 at one stage in the 9th over, they lost their way completely with the introduction of leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed into the attack.
He took wickets at regular intervals and by the 13th over, the Sixers had slipped to 65 for 7, losing 5 wickets for 13 runs. They could never recover from the slump and crawled their way to just 99 at the end of 20 overs. Fawad Ahmed registered outstanding figures of 4 for 14 and West Indies T20 skipper Carlos Brathwaite backed him up with 3 for 21.
In reply, the Thunder were never in any trouble as openers Kurtis Patterson and James Vince smashed their way to an opening stand of 54 in 5 overs. Vince was dismissed in the 6th over and skipper Shane Watson too lost his wicket in the same over, but the target was too small to defend for the Sixers and Patterson. In the company of Ben Rohner, ensured there was no more drama as the Thunder ended the match in just the 10th over.
Brief Scores:
Match 26: Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Stars – Perth Scorchers 134 for 7 (Tye 42, Agar 29, Beer 2 for 12, Hilfenhaus 2 for 15) lost to Melbourne Stars 137 for 3 (Pietersen 44*, Stoinis 40*, Richardson 2 for 26)
Result: Melbourne Stars won by 7 wickets
Man of the match – Michael Beer
Match 25: Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder – Sydney Sixers 99 for 9 (Hughes 20, Dwarshius 19, Fawad 4 for 14, Brathwaite 3 for 21) lost to Sydney Thunder 100 for 2 in 10 overs (Patterson 38, Vince 28, Abbott 2 for 36)
Result: Sydney Thunder won by 8 wickets
Man of the match – Fawad Ahmed
Let’s take a look at 5 of the best moments from the day:
#5 Fawad Ahmed makes his case stronger
The Australian team’s selection for the 4 Test series in India isn’t too far away and the selectors would surely be looking at which spinners to choose for the tough tour. Fawad Ahmed, although in an entirely different format, is making all the right noises and presenting a strong case for his inclusion in the squad.
The crafty leg-spinner derailed the Sixers innings as soon as he came into the attack and broke their back by picking up the wickets of Maddinson, Henriques, Munro and Abbott to return figures of 4 for 14 in his 4 overs.
More such bowling performances and the selectors might find it very hard to keep him out of the squad for the India tour.
#4 Carlos “Remember the name” Brathwaite continues to impress
West Indies T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite continued his good run for the Thunder and showed why he has been a great replacement player for them after Andre Russell’s injury. The tall medium pacer combined with Fawad to form a deadly duo and played a big part in making sure the Sixers innings never came back on track once it lost its way.
He picked up 3 wickets, including the crucial ones of Haddin and Botha and conceded just 21 runs off his 4 overs. This effort went a long way in keeping the Sixers to a greatly under-par 99 off their 20 overs.
#3 Andrew Tye springs a surprise with the bat
Usually well known for his fast bowling skills, especially in the death overs of a T20 innings, Andrew Tye surprised everyone, possibly even himself, with an enterprising innings of 42 coming in at no. 6. He walked in with the score reading 13 for 4 after 4 overs, and set about resurrecting the innings in the company of Ashton Turner.
He scored his highest ever score in all senior cricket with the help of 4 fours and a six, and took his team’s score to 83 by the time he was dismissed. His 42 was by far the highest score in an innings that stuttered right from the start and barely reached 134 at the end of 20 overs.
By showing another string to his bow, he would have surely done his chances of a comeback to the Australian T20 side no harm at all.
#2 Beer bemuses the Scorchers
Considered a bit of a T20 specialist and among the few spinners who regularly opens the bowling for his team, Michael Beer’s crafty left-arm spin was what started the slide of the Scorchers innings. Bowling 3 overs in the powerplay and one after it, he ended the innings with scarcely believable figures of 2 for just 12 after his 4 overs.
In his 3 powerplay overs, Beer conceded a meagre 5 runs and in the 2nd over, picked up key wickets of Ian Bell, who was caught plumb LBW first ball off an arm ball, and Bancroft, who also couldn’t open his account and missed another arm ball.
His efforts ensured that at the end of the powerplay, the score for the Scorchers was a mere 24 for 4 wickets and from there on, they had to play catching up for the rest of the innings.
#1 All-round Stoinis seals the deal
Talented all-rounder Marcus Stoinis gave a shining example of why he is rated so highly in the Australian domestic circuit and attracted the attention of IPL franchises as well. He bowled his full quota of 4 overs today and conceded just 28 runs, picking up the wicket of Hilton Cartwright to ensure the Scorchers innings didn’t get any momentum after being pegged back by Beer and Boland initially.
In the run chase, coming in at no. 5 with the score reading a tricky 81 for 3 in the 11th over, in the company of Kevin Pietersen, he shut the Scorchers completely out of the game with a breezy knock of 40.
Starting a bit circumspect, he tore into the bowling after getting set and smashed 28 off the last 7 deliveries he faced with 3 sixes and 2 fours to wrap up the match in just the 18th over. Such all-round efforts might see him break into the Australian T20 team sooner rather than later.
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