Adam Zampa picked up 5 for 17 in a game that was completely controlled by Melbourne Stars
Melbourne stars 2 for 179 (Fletcher 89 *, Valente 1-36) beat Adelaide Strikers 68 (Zampa 5-17) with 111 runs
Andre Fletcher has repaid the Melbourne Stars credentials with an incredible 89 that didn’t go out before Adam Zampa claimed a 5 for 17 to run a massive 111 win over Adelaide Strikers at the MCG.
The Strikers were sent off for just 68 runs 180, their lowest total in BBL history, the third lowest overall, and it was also the fourth-biggest loss by any team.
Fletcher had not surpassed 18 in the first nine games of the tournament but overcame a lack of strike in the first 10 pitches to reach his first half-century in T20 cricket in over 12 months. before eliminating the Strikers pups in the Power Surge he set a total winning amount of 2 for 179.
Fletcher revealed that he had received a phone call of encouragement from Brian Lara, a man from the West Indies, a few days earlier, who had boosted his engines.
He was well supported by Glenn Maxwell (37 off 28) and Hilton Cartwright (30 not out of 17), but the texture of Cartwright may have cost him a hundred years. The Strikers ’attack did not go in without Rashid Khan and Peter Siddle, although Liam O’Connor and Daniel Worrall quickly prevailed.
The Strikers then went to Stars spin trip as they raced through the edges with water approaching the radar. Maxwell and Zahir Khan set it up in Powerplay and finished with 4 for 31 from eight pitches combined. Zampa then finished the job when the rain began to fall claiming his second T20 five-wicket slip.
Stoinis go-slow
It was a strange pub from Marcus Stoinis. He admitted to the media on Thursday that he had struggled with how to build innings under the new rules, after getting too hard in the four-over Powerplay and even revealed that he forgot about the Power Surge in the last game. There is no doubt that Fletcher’s continued competition has played a part in his insanity. Stoney opposed 14 dots in total including 10 in Worrall ‘s first two appearances. He has the confidence that he can catch it but he never did it, stretching out to throw far to full-line finals from Danny Briggs for 13 off 26.
Fletcher faced just 15 balls and reached a maximum of 22 competitions while Stoney was at the festival. Maxwell walked out at No. 3 and avoided the third consecutive golden duck, but the Stars went down to 1 for 57 after 10 pitches with O’Connor stepping into Rashid’s big boots and bowling and good four-spell spells. However, he was unable to take any wickets to reveal the middle order of the Stars. Maxwell and Fletcher chose not to take the Power Surge despite the two men being sent off in the early 15th over and Maxwell went out to long work at an insignificant moment.
Spiceman runs hot
Fletcher had not reached fifty in his last 30 T20 innings going back to his time in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2019. Here, he reached his 50 balls from 36 at the end of the 16th and the relief on his face was visible. The Stars took the Power Surge and Fletcher filled his shoes. He carried a torch on Wes Agar and Worrall for four fours and two sixes as both cups got the horribly wrong length delivering a combination of full throws and length balls. Fletcher delivered a strike without any thought off Worrall over the last ball of the last ball of the Surge.
He was 82 not out with 12 balls left in the innards but he only had two more. Cartwright made 30 not out of 17 balls with two sixes, two fours, and three doubles leaving Fletcher to watch at the other end. Fletcher finally managed to strike the last ball of the innards and put Briggs over the screen. He was emotional as he walked off the ground and got a long grip from his captain Maxwell. It later emerged that the feeling was for his late uncle.
Water ash breaks down strikers
With water approaching on the radar, Maxwell decided to race through three spins in the Powerplay to get through five petals as fast as possible. The gamble paid off big wins as the Strikers fell to 2 for 10. Alex Carey encouraged himself to open with Phil Salt and both men fell free. Salt attacked Zahir back to the keeper while Carey netted a bow trying to launch Maxwell over a long period of time. Maxwell kept the spinning attack moving a bowling just two shots at distance in the top 10 as the Stars defended just 57 to claim the Bash Boost point. Matt Renshaw and Jon Wells failed to finish away from the spinners with Renshaw sending out to Zampa in the 10th over.
Zampa moves off a shoulder strain
Zampa injured his shoulder diving in the field and had to spend some time sitting on the dug-out while not bowling. But it didn’t affect his leg like it did another senior class. The damage was done by Maxwell and Zahir but Zampa still needed to shut out 10th place and secure the Bash Boost point. It was far too good for Strikers’ tail to claim four of the last five wikis.
Alex Malcolm is a Melbourne-based freelance writer