Daniel Hughes probably played the innings of his lifetime, ably supported by luck as Sydney Sixers beat their arch-rivals Melbourne Stars in what was a repeat of last year’s Big Bash League (BBL) Final. Hughes, coming in at number four, played a captain’s knock as he scored 96 off 51 balls with the help of seven sixes and six fours.
He nearly took the team, which was chasing a total of 194 and required 20 from the last over, home before getting out with four runs still required and just two balls remaining. Maxwell then darted in a yorker to number 10 Steve O’Keefe, which hit him on the legs and got deflected past the wicketkeeper Ben Dunk for a four to the third man boundary.
The match was well and truly in the grasp of Melbourne by the end of the 16th over when the Sixers required 52 runs off the last four overs and a new man in Carlos Brathwaite was in. On top of that, Hughes seemed to have lost his touch and wasn’t able to connect his shots well. However, a 9-run over off Zahir Khan, followed by a 20-run over off Adam Zampa, meant that Sixers were within touching distance of getting to the win, with a well and truly set Brathwaite sizing up an inexperienced Hatcher in the 19th over with 23 required from two.
However, it was Hatcher who was on top of his game as he pulled a rabbit out of the hat to bowl one of the best penultimate overs in the BBL history so far, that too under pressure, giving away just three runs and picking two crucial wickets, of Brathwaite and Ben Dwarshuis. However, that almost proved meaningless as Nathan Coulter Nile’s injury meant that Maxwell, the skipper, had to take it upon himself to defend 20 off the last over.
Critics will point out that he could have gone for the all-rounder Hilton Cartwright or the more established bowler Zahir Khan who had one over left, but in the end, a decision was made and was backed by Maxwell, although it didn’t go in his favour.
The Stars were not at their usual best as their ground fielding was probably the worst today, missing four boundaries which could have been easily curtailed to a single or double. Initially, it was Nicholas Pooran and then Nick Larkin, as a substitute, with the key mistake in the final over, going for a catch, that led Hatcher to concede a costly boundary as well. In hindsight, it proved very problematic for the visitors.
Earlier in the day, Stars had started their innings on a really slow note, losing opener Andre Fletcher in the first over itself. The innings was slow that even after the end of the 8th over, the Maxwell-led side was at 49-4. But it was only after this that the team’s fortunes took a 360-degree turn with the skipper and Pooran combining to give the spectators a splendid sight to witness, with the ball flying all across the Carrara Oval in Brisbane. Their 125-run stand in just 58 balls meant that Stars got to a total of 193-5, which never looked possible at one stage. Pooran got out at the end of the 18th over, having scored 65 off 26 balls, with the help of two fours and eight sixes, at a strike rate of 250. Maxwell, on the other hand, remained not out on 71 off 47 balls, but could only score 10 in the last over, a bit of disappointment after the fireworks before.
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