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Melbourne stars 6 for 183 (Stoinis 97 *, Cartwright 36, Ellis 3-31, Meredith 2-25) beat Hobart hurricanes 6 for 173 (McDermott 91, Rainbird 2-22) by 10 races
A brilliant inning in the lead of the Melbourne Stars order from Marcus Stoinis was offset by an equally stunning effort from Ben McDermott, but Stoinis’ 55-ball 97 * did the job for the Stars in a high-scoring victory. on the Hobart Hurricanes.
Stoinis hit through the innings for his nearly century, while McDermott looked set to also beat and lead the Hurricanes to a landslide victory, until he was out for 91 of 58 with six balls to go. McDermott’s innings only ended with a superb catch from André Fletcher to the limit, his second effort of the evening. Defying gravity by Fletcher flying to his right and left was as crucial to securing the Stars ‘victory as Stoinis’ innings.
The efforts of the two opposing openers were mirrored. The two started off slow, then exploded into a cascade of borders in the second half of their innings. The two have been the mainstays of their teams total, edging out all other combined. Their pace also set the tone for their teams, with both teams being sedentary at the start and slamming limits on the finish.
Stoinis went from 32 of 31 to 97 of 55, netting 65 points in the last ten passes from just 24 balls after being pretty much a run-a-ball before that. McDermott’s acceleration was just as brutal: he was just 26 of 28 after eight passes, and continued to crush 65 of his next 30 balls.
A wobbly start for the stars
It all started with a frenzied first from pacy Riley Meredith. The first and third balls went to the edge of the outside and inside edges, the second ball was a yorker that nearly knocked Fletcher down, and the batter was caught behind the legal fourth ball. He was pulling away from the body and the ball was an outside winger curling up, but during reruns it seemed more like the bat was hitting the ground than the ball.
The Hurricanes’ bowlers, led by Meredith, collapsed and the Stars collected 49 for 3 in the eighth, with fit captain Glenn Maxwell being the last wicket to fall at this point.
Stoinis takes the lead
The first ball Stoinis faced was in the second, and he dismissively swept Johan Botha for six, hitting him so well that the ball had to be replaced. The wickets at the top and tight bowling from the start meant he was becoming more vigilant than aggressive, but that was only until he got settled. Stoinis’ escalation was notable for the ease with which it was done. He brought out the big bangs, punishing sewing and spinning with an even hand.
The Stars were well served by successive partnerships for the fourth and fifth wickets. Nicholas Pooran joined Stoinis to add 60 runs in six overs, raising the innings after the calm start. Hilton Cartwright then made sure the momentum wasn’t lost with a sparkling 36-on-24-ball cameo, taking the lead in a 56-point stand that only occurred from 5.3 overs.
The Hurricanes might have hoped to finish well when Nathan Ellis managed to sideline Cartwright and Seb Gotch with successive balls to finish second to last, but Stoinis finished in style, crossing four limits in the final while Scott Boland in conceded 18.
Stoinis had started the final over 21 years to reach a century, and his free kick almost got him there.
No Bash Boost for Hurricanes
The Hurricanes looked to follow the model the Stars set, relying on a conservative start and wickets in hand to aim for a big finish. However, they were even quieter than the Stars with fewer lost wickets. They also couldn’t get the Bash Boost point, which was 60 to 1 in ten: the Stars had had 63 to 3.
McDermott turns on the heat
McDermott hadn’t been very fluid at first, with many of his power shots finding neither the middle nor the gaps, or both. The floodgates exploded on the 12th, knocked down by Cartwright, who gave 17 races. In Colin Ingram, McDermott had a partner who could score quickly on the other end and the sharply rising demand rate – it was over 12 after 11 passes – meant the two had to fight. They did and started connecting nicely too. The stand was shattered by the first of Fletcher’s superman efforts. Ingram had sculpted the ball powerfully on extra blanket, and Fletcher ran a bit too hard but then adjusted and pivoted to dive to his right, level off the ground, to snatch the ball.
McDermott always threatened to pull the game off, while captain Peter Handscomb also started with a scramble to the limits, until Fletcher’s second effort ended McDermott’s stay. He had hit a full throw from cover and this time Fletcher ran to his left and took a full dive, emerging once again with the ball clutched in his hands.
McDermott landed on the last ball from the 19th over, and without him, 21 from the last over was too much for the Hurricanes.
Saurabh Somani is Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo
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