BBL 06: Melbourne Stars Chases Down Mammoth Target To Upset Hobart Hurricanes
Dec 24, 2018 at 12:51 PM
It was all batsmen’s show at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Boxing day where the hard-hitting batting of Melbourne batsmen proved to be enough for Hobart Hurricanes. High totals were made and bowlers were punished, and in the end, it was the Stars who went away with the honours.
After winning the toss, Hobart decided to bat first but two early wickets raised questions over their decision as they lost the wicket of D’Arcy Short on a score of just one, which was a bit of surprise as Shot raised eyebrows with a quickfire knock in his debut game but failed today.
Ben Hilfenhaus followed with another wicket the very next ball, not giving any chance to Hobart batsmen. Hurricanes’s misery continued as all-rounder Glen Maxwell added to the pain with another wicket of Kumar Sangakkara but then came the moment when the pair of experienced players Tim Paine and George Bailey came into action to rejuvenate the tottering batting line up.
They moved ahead quite strongly, playing the ball on merit and punishing the loose balls as well. Till the time Paine missed out on his first ever T20 century, Hobart was in a comfortable situation on a score of 177 which was something that provided them with a sense of satisfaction. They asked Stars to chase 189 runs to win the game.
Unlike Hobart, Melbourne had a great start as their opening batsmen, except skipper David Hussey contributed in the chase, quite brilliantly. The opening pair of Rob Quiney and Luke Wright plundered 88 runs for the first wicket at a run-rate of little over 10. Glenn Maxwell, who is vying for a place in ODI squad sent a message with a classical innings of 58* in just 29 deliveries, at a strike-rate of 200.
He was the one to hit the finishing runs for Melbourne and seal an emphatic win over Hobart.
Rob Quiney was adjudged Man of the Match for providing a brilliant start to Melbourne in this mammoth chase.
Brief Scores: Melbourne Stars 191/3 defeats Hobart Hurricanes 188/4 by 7 wickets.