Melbourne Stars kept their Big Bash League season alive as Glenn Maxwell sealed a stunning 16-point win over top-tier Sydney Sixers on a drama-filled night at the MCG.
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Stars snatch very controversial catches | 00:29
The Stars jumped to the bottom of the ladder with two outstanding power surges from Maxwell playing a pivotal role in their third successive win after dropping their first five games in the competition.
However, the spotlight has been somewhat stolen by a series of events involving DRS.
Maxwell produced a masterclass with the bat, taking the Stars to 5/156 from 20 overs and scoring an unbeaten 58 off 32 balls, which was undisputed.
‘This shouldn’t have happened’: Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques fumes after bizarre DRS override.
He was dropped deep for one by Kurtis Patterson, who also swatted it over the ropes for a six, but that wasn’t what upset Sixers skipper Moises Henriques.
Henriques was unable to review appeal after appeal for Maxwell as the replay was shown on the MCG’s big screen before the 15-second timer expired, and expressed frustration with the failed review for lbw, challenging the way the referee interpreted the comeback. I did it.
Stars v Sixers – Full Match Highlights | 14:45
As a right-hander, the ball hit the outside-leg off-stump, but Henriquez attempted to reverse it, so Maxwell argued that he should be treated as a left-hander.
READ MORE: ‘This shouldn’t have happened’: Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques fumes after bizarre DRS flout.
Maxwell’s comeback also caused havoc during the power surge as left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshius took 3 for 6. He cleared the ropes with SCG Test debutant Beau Webster (41 off 48) scoring 33 overs. Two over blocks.
It was his best power surge of the season in terms of batting average, and Maxwell played a key role in the Sixers’ batting average during that period.
Captain Marcus Stoinis (2/30 off 4), who later left the field with a hamstring strain, brought his body to the ball in the first over of the power surge and beat James Vince (53 off 44) and Henriques (13 off 11) in space. Removed it. Of the three balls, Maxwell is tasked with catching both.
Vince fired high into the night sky deep into the wicket but Maxwell sat underneath him and held on, albeit unconvincingly, after England Test opener Ben Duckett had dropped him for 36.
Match Center: Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Sixers Scorecard
Henriques then hit him with one out, and veteran Peter Siddle (2/26 off 4) got a white ball to knock down Jordan Silk as the Stars took 3/11 on a power surge.
The 40-year-old struck the ball like it was a New Year’s Test at the SCG, pulling one goal off silk for the purists.
Stoinis’ bail was gibberish… but don’t fall | 00:33
The Sixers kept coming, but there was one more controversial moment, and from then on the Stars were rarely at home.
Pakistani leg-spinner Usama Mir snared 2/19 from four overs, but his second wicket, caught and bowled by Jack Edwards, was also sent upstairs, leaving Fox Cricket’s Adam Gilchrist unconvinced.
“For me, my fingers were spread out and I thought there was some kind of help in the grass,” he said.
Quick Mark Steketee took three wickets for the Stars after getting opener Josh Philippe down early in the innings and then taking two scalps in the last over of the match.
– Stars can become the final force –
The Stars have won three in a row to sit in seventh place, but are just one point behind fourth-placed Brisbane Heat.
Wins in their remaining games against cross-city rivals the Renegades at Marvel Stadium and the Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG will give the Stars little chance of making it into the finals.
Maxwell believes a top four finish would completely change things.
“Well, we still have to win two more games and hopefully get to a point where our net run rate is compressed to fourth place,” he told Fox Cricket.
“But given the way we play our cricket and the belief we have in this team, I think we have every chance of continuing our winning momentum if we get to the final.
“It’s really difficult to stop the winning momentum in T20 cricket. We’ve seen from past teams how difficult that can be.”
– Bail drama strikes again –
The late Andrew Symonds would have been throwing his hands in the air when the curse of heavy bail struck again.
In the Stars’ innings, captain Marcus Stoinis was the lucky beneficiary.
Stoinis swung and missed Sydney Sixers left-arm seamer Hayden Kerr as he attempted to fire over the leg side, the ball clipping the top of the off stump but the bails wavered and stayed in the groove.
It was a particular bugbear of his when Symonds commented on Fox Cricket not being bailed, and Stoinis knew immediately he was fired.
Sixers skipper Moises Henriques revealed in commentary that he initially did not know the ball was hit when he hit the stumps, but his opponents allowed it.
“Stoin just told us we have that heavy bond,” Henriques said.
The massive all-rounder failed to make the ladder leaders pay off. However, he was dismissed in the very next over for 4 off 9 balls, caught behind the bowling of Australian Test team member Sean Abbott.
Abbott finished with figures of 3/29 from four overs, which was highlighted by conceding just one run in the second over of the innings.
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