Joe Clarke 60, Rauf three-for power Stars to top of the table
Rauf restricted Sydney Thunder to 128 in the first innings
AAP
28-Dec-2025
Joe Clarke hit a quickfire fifty for Melbourne Stars • Getty Images
Melbourne Stars 132 for 1 (Clarke 60, Maxwell 39*, Green 1-8) beat Sydney Thunder 128 (Shadab 25, Rauf 3-29, Swepson 2-18) by nine wickets
Melbourne Stars have shot clear on the Big Bash League ladder, delivering a hiding to a lacklustre Sydney Thunder in Canberra.
Stars continued their unbeaten streak on Sunday, thanks to a nine-wicket defeat of David Warner's side, chasing down the 129-run target with 36 balls remaining. Joe Clarke (60 off 37 balls), Sam Harper (29* off 27) and Glenn Maxwell (39* off 20) all found a fluency that had eluded the Thunder batters as Pakistan quick Haris Rauf (3 for 29) set the tone.
Clarke timed the ball superbly before Maxwell iced the contest with a series of conventional and reverse sweeps that peppered both sides of the Manuka Oval.
Maxwell then put a full-stop on a dominant evening with his second six of the game, this time straight down the ground, to pass the target.
His first six took Maxwell to 150 in BBL, becoming only the second person to achieve the feat, but still well behind Chris Lynn, who has scored an incredible 220 sixes for Heat and Strikers.
"We can't complain; we're in a nice spot and we have to run with this momentum and we're doing that," Stars captain Marcus Stoinis said. "Different boys are contributing; it feels good, it's clinical."
Earlier, Sam Konstas (11 off 15) was close to being run-out twice in his short stay, and his opening partner Matthew Gilkes (24 off 13) had two lives before succumbing to Rauf all in the same over. That pair at least gave Thunder an early boost, Gilkes powering them to 23 for 0 after two overs before both were dismissed and the brakes applied.
Warner hit Marcus Stoinis on to the Manuka Oval roof, but was dismissed off the next ball and Thunder limped to 64 for 4, after 10 overs, and never accelerated.
Rauf dismissed Sam Billings just as he threatened to build an innings of substance, then celebrated for a third time when Chris Green flicked a ball straight to short fine leg.
Stars' recruit Mitchell Swepson (2 for 18 from four overs) made an instant impact, knocking over Konstas with his first delivery, then trapping Cameron Bancroft in front.
"We've shown we can also drag it back; they started off well," Stoinis said. "It shows we're in the contest and thinking clearly. "It [the Stars' good energy] started last year; it felt like we'd never left and the messages were quite clear."