MELBOURNE BASH SIXERS

Melbourne Stars has defeated Sydney Sixers in a match of the Big Bash League played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. Stars won the match by 21 runs. This was the third victory for the stars in the ongoing League. They are currently at no. 2 in the points table with 8 points in 4 matches.

Earlier, the skipper of Sydney Sixers, Brad Haddin, won the toss and decided to field first. Melbourne Stars didn’t have a good start and both their opening batsmen were dismissed early. Glenn Maxwell came to bat at no. 4 and he played an absolute blinder. He was fluent right from the start and he timed the ball sweetly. On the other end, Brad Hodge was playing sensibly and rotating the strike. Both these batsmen added 118 runs for the third wicket. This partnership was broken by Moran who dismissed Hodge on the last ball of the 15^th over. Hodge scored 51 runs off just 33 deliveries with 4 fours and 1 six.

Maxwell also departed soon. He tried to hit Moran over the log off boundary, but, he mistimed the shot and the ball went straight into the stands of Steven Smith. But, before getting out, Maxwell had done a lot of damage The Melbourne Stars ended up putting a score of 177 runs on the board in 20 overs.

The Sydney Sixers started brilliantly in reply and the opening pair added 74 runs for the first wicket. The skipper of Melbourne Stars, Shane Warne, gave Sixers the first blow by dismissing Daniel Smith. After the fall of the first wicket, the run rate of the Sixers came down and they also kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The Sixers managed to score only 156 runs in 20 overs for the loss of six wickets and lost the match. Shane Warne was the most successful bowler for the stars. He bowled four overs and took a couple of wickets.

Glenn Maxwell was declared man of the match for his blistering knock.