All-round Maxwell lifts Melbourne Stars to fourth
He picked up three wickets and then scored an unbeaten 35 off 18 balls to take his side home in a rain-curtailed match
AAP
28-Dec-2023
Glenn Maxwell picked up three wickets before scoring an unbeaten 35 off 18 balls • Getty Images
Melbourne Stars 67 for 3 (Maxwell 35*, Rogers 21*, Meredith 2-15) beat Hobart Hurricanes 155 (Jewell 45, Wright 33, Rauf 3-24, Maxwell 3-29) by seven wickets (DLS method)
Melbourne Stars continued their BBL resurgence, with captain Glenn Maxwell leading the side to a second consecutive victory in a rain-affected clash with Hobart Hurricanes.
Stars bowled out Hurricanes to 155 before wet and wild conditions blanketed Blundstone Arena during the innings break and reduced the target to 67 runs from seven overs under the DLS method.
Maxwell started the chase with Sam Harper but was stranded at the bowler's end as Hurricanes quick Riley Meredith sparked the hosts with two wickets in the opening over on Thursday night.
Meredith sent the first ball of Stars' innings down the leg side for a wide, but then had Harper out hooking off the next delivery.
Marcus Stoinis was out three balls later in much the same way, and when Hurricanes captain Nathan Ellis bowled Hilton Cartwright in the next over, Stars were reeling at 6 for 3.
But Maxwell and Thomas Rogers steered the Stars home to make it back-to-back victories after a slow start to their campaign.
Maxwell had earlier taken three wickets to help restrict Hurricanes to a modest total.
"I took a gamble to bring myself on," Maxwell told Fox Sports. "With that little bit of drizzle and that rain, it actually changed the pitch, I was able to get the ball to skid on a bit faster. You get a couple of lucky wickets with just timing."
Haris Rauf chipped in with three scalps late in the innings as Hurricanes were bowled out with two balls remaining after a bright start.
Macalister Wright set the pace early for Hurricanes until mistiming a waist-high full toss off Usama Mir to Stoinis diving low at deep midwicket.
Caleb Jewell maintained the momentum for Hurricanes and smashed three consecutive boundaries off Beau Webster in the ninth over.
The Hurricanes opener sent a scare through Stars' camp with a sharp straight drive off Maxwell that left the Australia international needing attention after getting a hand on the ball to prevent a certain boundary.
The offspinner responded with the next delivery, darting a straight ball into Jewell's pads to trap him lbw for 45 off 37 balls and spark a middle-order collapse.
Nikhil Chaudhary looked set to rescue the hosts with positive play as he took ten runs off two balls from Rauf.
But the fast bowler responded by taking pace off the ball as Chaudhary swung hard again but was caught in the deep for 32 off 16 balls before the rain arrived.