MELBOURNE Stars are on the board in the BBL|14 season after finally grabbing their first win at The Gabba last night. The Stars kept the Brisbane Heat to 7-149 from the 20 overs, and despite only really having two knocks of note, Melbourne reached the total with 11 balls to spare thanks to Dan Lawrence and Marcus Stoinis‘ 132-run third wicket partnership.

Entering the contest with a 0-5 record, the Stars were underdogs despite the Heat only breaking even thus far with a 2-2 effort. However after winning the toss and sending the home side in, bowler Mark Skeketee quickly made his presence felt with a couple of wickets, and when Joel Paris and Peter Siddle joined the party, the danger signs were there for the Heat.

Whittled down to 4-39 off 7.1 overs, they needed a hero, and that hero came in the form of Max Bryant. Stepping up to the plate with his side in trouble, he would go on to survive the innings, smacking an unbeaten 77 off 48 balls. Unfortunately for the Heat batsman, he would lack partners, with only really Paul Walter (21 off 18) providing his fair share of runs.

That mostly came in their brief 29-run partnership, before Bryant would start to open up and added 38 more in the sixth wicket partnership alongside Will Prestwidge who only faced 10 balls in that time for four runs. Unfortunately for him, his innings will best be remembered by his dismissal as Glenn Maxwell took a catch for the ages.

The experienced all-rounder leapt over the boundary as it was headed for a six, threw the ball back into play high enough to get back inside the rope and complete the catch to dismiss a stunned Prestwidge. Incredibly, Bryant would keep doing all the heavy lifting until the end, as partner Xavier Bartlett would make an even six runs off six balls inn that 43-run seventh wicket partnership until being run out on the last ball by Sam Harper.

Given some of the results Stars fans have been put through this season, there was no guarantees despite being able to reduce the Heat’s batting power, and when Ben Duckett went first ball for a golden duck, it did not allay those fears. Bartlett would take a second wicket – that of Harper at the end of the second over, and then just two balls later, Spencer Johnson dismissed Tom Rogers and the Stars were 3-14.

However like the Heat, just when the Stars needed a hero, they got one. But not just one, two. Lawrence and Stoinis put together an incredible 132-run partnership as they shared the load, smacking around the Heat bowlers for the best part of 14 overs. It was not until Stoinis was finally stopped at 4-146 that the home side could release the pressure valve.

By that stage it was a little late though, and even though Bartlett rook his fourth wicket and set up a hat-trick ball by taking another golden duck with Maxwell, it would still see the Stars skip past the Heat’s total with five wickets in hand and all balls still remaining. Bartlett starred with the ball taking 4-10 from his innings, but the inability for the Heat to contain the middle-order partnership ultimately cost them.

Brisbane Heat heads to Coffs Harbour on January 3 for an attempt to bounce back against ladder leaders Sydney Sixers coming off their first loss, while Melbourne Stars will attempt to go back-to-back against rivals the Renegades at the MCF on January 4.

SCORECARD

RESULT: Stars won by 5 wickets with 11 balls remaining
POTM: Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars)
BAT FLIP: Stars won and elected to bowl

Brisbane Heat
Max Bryant 77* (48), Paul Walter 21 (18)
Mark Steketee 2-42 (4), Usama Mir 1-17 (3), Joel Paris 1-20 (4)

Melbourne Stars
Dan Lawrence 64* (38), Marcus Stoinis 62 (48)
Xavier Bartlett 4-10 (4), Spencer Johnson 1-28 (4)

INNINGS BREAKDOWN:

Power Play (1-4):
Heat: 2-25
Stars: 3-15

Halfway (10):
Heat: 4-47
Stars: 3-77

Power Surge:
Heat: (15-16): 5-84 to 5-106 (0-22)
Stars: N/A

Totals:
Heat: 7-149
Stars: 5-153

SQUADS

Brisbane Heat: Tom Banton (wk), Colin Munro (c), Nathan McSweeney, Matthew Renshaw, Max Bryant, Paul Walter, Will Prestwidge, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Mitch Swepson, Matt Kuhnemann

Melbourne Stars: Ben Duckett, Tom Rogers, Dan Lawrence, Marcus Stoinis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Sam Harper (wk), Usama Mir, Mark Steketee, Joel Paris, Peter Siddle

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