Melbourne Stars overcome Brisbane Heat challenge as Glenn Maxwell shines

Melbourne Stars earned all 4 possible points, including one via the Bash Boost in their inaugural BBL 2020 encounter against Brisbane Heat.

Who won the game for the stars?

Three of them played key roles. But leading the way with bat and ball was Captain Glenn Maxwell. He called directly into the draw, opted to pitch, and immediately set the tone with two tight overs in the powerplay. He set the tone for the others to follow through against a batting lineup struggling to break out of blocks. Maxwell also starred in the chase, shooting 46 of 26 balls after the Stars lost their first three wickets by just 34. Maxwell’s position of 74 with Hilton Cartwright ensured the Stars struggled to win again comfortably.

How were the secondary acts?

Very well. As Cartwright played the role of anchor with the bat and led the team in pursuit, the bowling department saw Nathan Coulter-Nile come in with a touch of gold. In 23 balls, Coulter-Nile finished with impressive numbers of 4-10, including the great wicket of Chris Lynn. With two escapes to boot, Coulter-Nile played a huge role in the Brisbane Heat bowling by a measly 125.

What went wrong with the Heat?

With starters stifled in the power play, the onus fell on people like Lynn and the middle class to prop things up. However, the highest strike rate of the innings was just 114, indicating a struggle in the lineup to up the ante. It didn’t help his cause that starter Max Bryant, who fell to a slower Coulter-Nile one, and Chris Lynn, who was a long way off, fell just as they began to make the first hit. The recovery work that followed was similarly nipped in the bud with Tom Cooper (26 of 24) and Jimmy Peirson (18 of 21) failing to convert slow starts that further pushed the Heat to a point of no return.

Brief scores: Brisbane Heat 125 with everything (Tom Cooper 26; Nathan Coulter-Nile 4-10) lost to Melbourne Stars 129/4 (Hilton Cartwright 46 *, Glenn Maxwell 46) by 6 wickets.