The Melbourne stars had their noses ahead from the first game of the over till the last as they won comfortably by 8 wickets and 5 overs to spare here at Melbourne.
The Hurricanes were never in the game after they lost captain Tim Paine in the first over of the innings owing to a sharp catch by Faulkner. It was not the first time the ploy to use a spinner worked on Paine in the current edition of the BBL.
Wickets fell in a flurry as veteran Kumar Sangakkara nicked one down the leg side followed by twin run-outs of Ben Dunk and the big hitting Dan Christian. At 4-31 after the end of the power play, the Stars were well and truly on top even as George Bailey and Jono Wells stitched together a decent recovering partnership.
Leg spinner Adam Zampa spoilt the party as he accounted for both the set batsmen in the 16th over to put the Stars well and truly in pole position. John Hastings and Australian call-up Scott Boland turned on the screws in the death overs to ensure that the Hurricanes did not gather any momentum at the fag end of their innings.
Zampa was easily the pick of the bowlers ending with figures of 4-0-18-0. Boland picked up 2 wickets whereas Maxwell, Hastings and Beer snared one apiece.
The Stars got off to a sedated start with Stonis and Wright looking to play cautiously at the beginning. Stonis departed soon after followed, almost immediately by the run out of their in-form batsman Kevin Pietersen.
Glenn Maxwell then joined last match’s centurion Luke Wright at the centre and the duo ensured that the Stars crossed the winning line with no further hiccups. Maxwell ended up with 56 runs of merely 32 deliveries and Wright was unbeaten on 41.
For the Hurricanes, it was a forgettable performance with bat and ball. Only Rainbird seemed to give some challenge to the Stars batsmen ending with figures of 4-0-25-1. Glenn Maxwell was adjudged the man of the match for his all-round performance
Brief Scores: Hobart Hurricanes: 124 (20 overs) lost to Melbourne Stars: 126/2 (15 overs) by 8 wickets.
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