Glenn Maxwell and Chris Morris were the stars in their team's victories.
Melbourne Stars hosted Perth Scorchers in the 41st match of Big Bash League (BBL) 09 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday (January 18).
Opting to bat first, Stars posted a modest 141/6 in 20 overs on the back of opener Hilton Cartwright’s unbeaten 56-ball 58. Captain Glenn Maxwell (25 off 23 balls) and Nick Larkin (24 off 18 balls) also chipped in with the bat in a low-scoring affair.
Matthew Kelly was the stand-out bowler for Scorchers, claiming 3 wickets for 27 runs in his stipulated four overs.
In reply, Scorchers fell 10 runs short of the target. Stars bowlers were economical and kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Nic Maddinson was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 24 in his four overs while Daniel Worrall (1/16), Clint Hinchliffe (1/16), Maxwell (1/20) and Sandeep Lamichhane (1/29) returned with one scalp each.
It was a disappointing chase from Perth as Cameron Bancroft (32 off 44 balls) was the only batsman to touch the 30-run mark.
Brief Scores:
Melbourne Stars 141/6 in 20 overs (Hilton Cartwright 58*; Matthew Kelly 3-27) defeated Perth Scorchers 131/9 in 20 overs (Cameron Bancroft 32; Nic Maddinson 3-24) by 10 runs.
In the 42nd match of the competition, Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers faced each other at the Sydney Showground Stadium.
Asked to bat first, Sixers got off to disasters start, losing 6 wickets for just 26 runs. Justin Avendano (28 off 31 balls) and Ben Dwarshuis (19 off 20 balls) revived the innings with a 45-run stand for the seventh wicket. The rain breaks spoiled it further for the Sixers and they eventually got bowled out for a mere 76 in 10.5 overs.
Daniel Sams (3/14) and Chris Morris (2/12) were the pick of the bowlers for Thunder.
Chasing the revised target of 75, Thunder defeated the Sixers by 4 runs on account of the Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method after making 28/2. The rain delay in the second innings ended the match on DLS as only 5.3 overs got completed in Thunder’s innings.
Usman Khawaja was the top-scorer for Thunder with 13 while Jackson Bird and Tom Curran claimed one wicket each for Sixers.
Brief Scores:
Sydney Sixers 76/10 in 15.5 overs (Justin Avendano 28; Daniel Sams 3-14) lost to Sydney Thunder 28/2 in 5.3 overs (Usman Khawaja 13; Jackson Bird 1/5) by 4 runs via DLS method.