Brisbane's thrilling one-run win made it zero from three for Melbourne franchise
Heat win a thriller to leave Stars on the brink
Brisbane Heat registered their first win of BBL|04 in dramatic fashion with a one-run victory over Melbourne Stars at the Gabba.
A crowd of 26,788 witnessed one of the most enthralling matches in the short history of the KFC T20 Big Bash League, in which the bizarre dismissal of Stars allrounder Glenn Maxwell was just one of a host of talking points.
Sorry stars fans, not good enough, dumb and sh*t is the only way to describe tonight's events.
— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) December 28, 2014
Promoted to No.3 for the winless Stars, Maxwell lasted just one ball when he charged left-arm quick Ryan Duffield only to shoulder arms and watch the inswinger cannon into his leg-stump.
While an injured Rob Quiney (45 not out) belted the Stars to within one of the Heat's 8-164 for their third straight loss, the major talking point was Maxwell's dismissal and his dreadful form slump.
A World Cup certainty at the start of the summer, the Victorian is now under pressure to keep his place in Australia's 15-man squad for the upcoming showpiece one-day tournament.
Despite a late-innings fightback by James Faulkner (34) and Quiney, the Stars didn't recover from Duffield's new-ball heroics, with the left-armer’s 3-28 also including the wickets of Cameron White and David Hussey to leave the visitors in disarray.
Drawcard Andrew Flintoff enjoyed some big moments with both bat and ball – bashing 14 runs in the Heat's penultimate over and taking two wickets in an over after Faulkner threatened to steal the game.
But the former England captain was also taken for 21 in his last over by Quiney who had retired hurt earlier in the innings with a groin strain.
Needing 16 off the last over, and then five off the last ball, Quiney skied a full toss to within metres of the midwicket rope and ran three in a thrilling finish.
Flintoff was a relieved man after the game, especially as he thought Quiney had sent the last ball over the rope.
"That second last over of mine was a real shocker – I was nearly going home after that!" he told Network Ten.
"It was too close at the end but we'll take these points.
"It was a big game for us after we lost the first one so it's nice to get on the board."