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The Melbourne Stars have been slammed for leaving two of their most dangerous hitters waiting on the sidelines during their chase of Hobart’s total in a rain-marred Big Bash elimination final on Wednesday night.
Speaking on Fox Cricket after the Hurricanes won a thriller to advance to face the Sydney Sixers for a sport in the grand final, ex-Australian keeper-batsman Brad Haddin said Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, “with the power in this form of the game”, simply “needed to face more balls”.
Glenn Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright of the Stars looked dejected after the game.Credit: Getty Images
The defending champions Hobart posted 5-114 off a reduced 10 overs thanks to 47 from 26 balls from Test star Beau Webster.
Needing 85 from just seven overs in their reply, the Stars opened with Tom Rogers and player of the tournament Sam Harper, with Joe Clarke batting at three and captain Stoinis and Maxwell four and five respectively.
The 37-year-old Maxwell only entered the fray in the second-last over of the match when Harper was stunningly retired with the run rate required surging.
The equation came down the Stars needing 26 runs off the final over, but they still only fell three runs short on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system after some late hitting from Stoinis and Hilton Cartwright.
Sam Harper was retired during the Stars innings to bring Maxwell on for some late hitting.Credit: Getty Images
Stoinis was caught on the fence for nine off five deliveries, while Maxwell was unbeaten on nine from four.
Australian great Mark Waugh, who like Haddin was commentating the match on Fox, suggested Maxwell’s current form worked against him.
“If he was in better form, he would have demanded opening, but I just think he probably wasn’t that confident to do it,” Waugh said.
But Haddin replied by saying: “Even Stoinis… in a seven-over game, it doesn’t matter – he’s not going to face 10 balls. If he faces 10 balls, he’ll be 25 runs. I just think they got it wrong there.”
Earlier in the game, Haddin said: “I don’t want to be playing at the back end of the game with Maxwell and Stoinis only batting one or two overs.
“Marcus Stoinis is one batter who can get 20 off the last over.
“I still don’t know why Maxwell and Stoinis weren’t in earlier facing more balls. They have left it too late.”
Stoinis is 13th on the list of the highest run-scorers this Big Bash season, but the out-of-form Maxwell is an eye-popping 59th.
Harper, meanwhile, is third with 381 runs from 11 matches at an average of 54.42 and a strike rate of 155.51.
Proven commodities Maxwell and Stoinis were named in the Australian squad for this year’s T20 World Cup, while Harper missed out.
The Stars were 1-9 when rain forced players off the field, with their victory target altered under DLS.
Cartwright hit Mitch Owen for six off the second last ball of the innings, leaving the Stars needing five to win and four to tie – and force a super over – from the final delivery.
But Owen held his nerve, keeping Cartwright to just a single as the Stars finished at 4-81.
Earlier, when Hurricanes speedster Riley Meredith slipped in the wet conditions, ex-Australian keeper and Hobart gloveman Matthew Wade said, “We shouldn’t be playing in this”.
During a previous rain break, Wade said on Fox Cricket: “Everyone wants to play, no doubt, but there’s a point where if the rain keeps coming down, and guys are coming in trying to bowl 145 [km/h], there has to be some common sense involved.”
The Hurricanes will face the Sixers at the SCG on Friday night, with the winners to face the Scorchers in the final in Perth on Sunday.
Riley Meredith spilled this ball over the rope for six in the final over of the match, but the Hurricanes still held on.Credit: Getty Images
It was a brutal end to the season for the Stars, who could have locked up top spot and two bites at the cherry with a win over Perth in their final regular-season game.
Stoinis carved a six off the first ball of the final over but then holed out, before Cartwright did his best with three boundaries in three balls.
Hurricanes quick Riley Meredith (2-19) got a scalp early in the chase to help put his side ahead of the game.
Earlier, Webster, who has only played four times in the Big Bash League this summer due to Test squad commitments, whacked three sixes in a final over from Tom Curran that went for 21.
The Stars dropped two outfield catches, including Nikhil Chaudhary (24 from 11) who hit back-to-back maximums after Curran put down a sitter at cover.
Mitchell Swepson bowled a tight two overs that only went for 12, while Stoinis took 1-6 but only sent down one over.
After they lost the toss, Hobart opener Owen, who hasn’t hit full flight this season, hit Maxwell into the stands but was out two balls later for seven.
If the game had been washed out, the higher-ranked Hurricanes (third) would have progressed at the expense of the Stars (fourth).
With AAP
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