The scorecard: Sydney Thunder 4-168 (Morgan 71no, Hilfenhaus 2-39) beat Melbourne Stars 8-166 (Pietersen 60, Watson 3-23)
The match in a tweet: Six of the best! Morgan's final-ball maximum steals sensational win for Thunder, who stay alive in #BBL06
Morgan wins it with a last-ball six!
The hero: Eoin Morgan hadn't had the impact the Thunder would have been hoping for through the first half of their season, but in his final match before departing for England duties, the left-hander showed why so many hopes had been pinned on him in the middle order. Morgan came to the crease in the sixth over with the score at 2-42, and paced his charge toward the target like the seasoned international he is. His 50 came from 40 balls as he combined deft placement with destructive hitting, and when it came to the crunch - five runs required to win from the final ball - he did the business spectacularly, smashing Ben Hilfenhaus back over his head for six to seal the most dramatic of victories.
Marvellous Morgan's Big Bash miracle
The consolation effort: Kevin Pietersen has consistently produced quality for the Melbourne Stars and tonight was no exception. With the wicket of David Hussey, the Stars slipped to 3-91 and the match was in the balance. Pietersen stepped up to maintain the tempo, beginning cautiously as he assessed the conditions before picking up the pace to bring up his first half-century of the tournament from 34 balls in the middle of a Gurinder Sandhu over that cost 21. The former England captain then put his feet up while his team fielded, sighting a groin niggle and a busy schedule as the reasons for his rest.
Pietersen leads the way with 60
The talking point: If the Thunder's title defence wasn't already in trouble, it was dealt another serious blow when Andre Russell pulled up with a left hamstring injury while chasing a ball headed for the boundary. The big West Indian was the superstar behind their charge to an unlikely title last summer but has been out of sorts this season, and now every Thunder fan will be awaiting the results of scans on Thursday to assess the extent of the problem.
Russell cut down by injury against the Stars
The spin factor: Pietersen commented over the Network TEN mic that he believed spin would play a key factor, and so it proved. Fawad Ahmed's excellent spell of 2-30 certainly attested to that, with the leg-spinner taking the key wickets of veterans Luke Wright 25 (12) and David Hussey (15 off 11).
Fawad spins through a pair of Stars
Off-spinner Chris Green chipped in brilliantly with two wickets from as many balls, narrowly avoiding a hat-trick and keeping the Stars' total to a chaseable one.
Green misses a hat-trick by just inches
For the Stars, Michael Beer's first two overs cost just seven runs, while Adam Zampa took 1-19 from his four, the leg-spinner skidding one through Ben Rohrer to leave the Thunder in all sorts at 4-85 in the 13th over.
The cameo: Australia limited-overs star Glenn Maxwell opened the batting, and quickly lived up to his reputation by switch hitting the first runs of the match behind square for four. Maxwell looked in ominous form, racing to 34 from 22 with six fours but coming unstuck when he smashed a leg-side full toss from Watson to Kurtis Patterson on the midwicket fence.
Maxi opens up with breezy cameo
The catch: What about this from Shane Watson … no more words required!
Watson takes a beauty to remove Pietersen
The catch, Pt II: OK, so Sam Harper's was probably even better!
Sam's screamer accounts for Watson
The wash-up: Well at one point it looked all over bar the shouting for the Thunder, but their title defence remains alive thanks to the marvellous Morgan. One win from five is hardly ideal but they made the finals last year with four wins, so the dream remains alive. They now have a 10-day gap until their next match, against the Sixers at the SCG, while the Stars - who are one win from three - also have a derby next up, against the Renegades at Etihad on Saturday.
