CRICKET

BBL EXPORTS

By TOM HAYES

 

MORWELL’S Peter Siddle has made a U-turn on his retirement plans, inking a new one-year extension with the Melbourne Stars.

The announcement was made hours before the Stars’ all-important Big Bash League fixture against Hobart Hurricanes on Sunday, needing to win for a finals berth.

Against all odds at the MCG, the Stars knocked off the top-of-the-table Hurricanes, recording their fifth-straight win of the season, after starting the campaign 0-5.

After being thrown into the crease by Hurricanes captain Nathan Ellis, the Stars were on song from the get-go.

Despite losing a couple of wickets in the first five-or-so overs, their run rate remained steady with hopes of a big total still possible.

Once the opening pair of Sam Harper (23 runs) and Thomas Rogers (nine) were dismissed, Beau Webster and Marcus Stoinis kept the runs flowing.

Stoinis raced to 32 from 19 balls before his dismissal, which brought Glenn Maxwell to the crease. Maxwell came into the match in blistering form, scoring 90 from 52 deliveries in the Stars’ previous match.

Webster and Maxwell added 70 runs in a five-over period, which boosted the Stars’ hopes, before Webster was caught shortly after bringing up his half-century.

Maxwell continued to press on as the Stars reached a massive total of 5/219 from their 20-over allotment.

Maxwell went on to score another 76 from 32 balls, including five fours and six sixes.

Needing to put the pressure on the Hurricanes right away, the Stars lived up to the hype, picking up two wickets in the second over, bowled by Mark Steketee, to set the tone.

Although wickets were falling, the Hurricanes weren’t going down without a fight, as other Hurricanes’ opener Mitchell Owen pushed more and more across the boundary.

Steketee claimed his third during his second over, with the score reading 3/45 at that time, at the start of the fourth over. Owen would have to walk just two overs later, after making 38 runs which included six boundaries.

At this stage the Hurricanes began to look shaky with only six wickets left in the sheds, 166 runs to chase, and still around 15 overs remaining.

Nikhil Chaudhary and Matthew Wade steadied the Hurricanes’ innings with admirable knocks in the 20s each, as did Tim David who replaced Wade in the 10th over.

Regardless of their efforts, the Hurricanes still fell short, needing 120 to win from 57 balls with just four wickets remaining after Chaudhary was dismissed.

A valiant effort was made by Ellis, who smashed 40 from 22 balls at number 10, but the total was well out of reach before his wicket ended the innings.

The Stars got home by 40 runs in the end, qualifying for the finals for the first time since the 2019/20 BBL season where they finished first on the ladder for the second time, but finished the season runner-up for a third time.

Siddle struggled with the ball, recording figures of 0/44 from just three overs, going for as much as 21 runs in his first over.

Despite this outing, Siddle finished the regular season with the second-most wickets for the Stars.

Qualifying for the BBL finals were the Hurricanes (first) and Sydney Sixers (second), who faced off in the Qualifier on Tuesday, January 21. The winner progresses straight into the Final. Results were unknown at the time of print.

The Stars, who finished fourth, are tasked with Sydney Thunder in the Knockout tonight (Wednesday, January 22). The winner of this fixture plays the loser of the Qualifier in the Challenger.

The winner of the Challenger on Friday, January 24 will be the second team in the Final, which is set for Monday, January 27.