Melbourne Stars 109 for 1 (Rogers 51*) beat Adelaide Strikers 108 (Nielsen 40, Coulter-Nile 3-17) by nine wickets
The Melbourne Stars eased a 109-run chase with a nine-wicket hammer against the Adelaide Strikers to keep their faint hopes of the BBL Final alive.
The forward’s strong batting team collapsed at the MCG on Thursday night, being sent off for just 108 after consecutive scores of over 200. This was the lowest total of any team batting first this season, and the third lowest total in Strikers history.
In response, Tom Rodgers entered the first half-century of his BBL career as the Stars picked up 33 balls to clinch the win. Teammate Joe Clark was the only player to be sacked when he was overtaken by a direct hit by Ryan Gibson. The win lifted the Stars off the bottom of the ladder, boosted their net run rate and gave them a lifeline ahead of Saturday’s derby against the Melbourne Renegades. The forward is a solid mix, hosting bottom-seeded Brisbane in his heat on the same day.
The Strikers’ low total came despite Matt Short striking out two of his first three deliveries in six innings as he removed 20 from Luke Wood’s opening over. . They were his only two sixes in the Strikers’ innings.
Veteran duo Nathan Coulter-Nile and Adam Zampa shone in his Stars as they beat their opponents and rolled the ball for almost 60 points. Liam Hatcher beat out the competition’s top two run-scorers, Short and Chris Lynn, while Beau Webster made a great dive catch on extra cover to take out Adam Horse. Wood was the only Star Bowler with an economic rating of 5 or higher.
Harry Nielsen was the strikers’ top scorer without a win at the MCG after his six tries against the Stars.