Melbourne Stars secured their place in the Big Bash League (BBL) 09 final with a comfortable 28-run victory Sydney Thunder in the Challenger clash at MCG on Thursday (February 6).

Opting to bat first, Stars posted a massive 194/2 in 20 overs on the back of Marcus Stoinis and Nick Larkin’s 83-run each. While Stoinis took 54 balls to score the runs, Larkin took 49 deliveries.

Chris Morris picked up both the wickets by conceding 30 runs in his stipulated four overs.

Defending the total, Stars restricted Thunder to 166/8 with Haris Rauf (3/17), Nathan Coulter-Nile (2/29) and Adam Zampa (2/43) doing the bulk of the damage.

Except for Alex Ross (58 off 38 balls), none of the Thunder batsmen managed to touch the 50-run mark.

Melbourne Stars will now face Sydney Sixers in the summit clash at SCG on Saturday (February 8).

Brief Scores:

Melbourne Stars 194/2 in 20 overs (Nick Larkin 83*; Chris Morris 2/30) defeated Sydney Thunder 166/8 in 20 overs (Alex Ross 58; Haris Rauf 3/17) by 28 runs.