Stars take the points in roller coaster Gabba affair

Melbourne Stars have climbed into the KFC BBL's top four with a 20-run victory over the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba off the back of a record-breaking partnership between Joe Clarke and Hilton Cartwright.

With both teams searching for a third win of their respective campaigns, it was the Heat who hit the right notes initially, taking three big wickets inside three overs after skipper Jimmy Peirson won the toss.

Indeed, in-form Australia A quick Mark Steketee looked to have just about bent the game to his will when he snaffled the prized Stars pair of Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell for a grand total of two runs.

In between those comings and goings, former Heat favourite son Joe Burns was another to appear only momentarily, the Brisbane boy clean bowled by Liam Guthrie for two after stepping away and looking to slash a drive through cover.

All of which left the Stars reeling at 3-16, and the Heat cock-a-hoop.

Across the next 12.1 overs however, that scenario was flipped thanks to a quite remarkable stand between the big-hitting Cartwright and the Englishman Clarke.

The two right-handers found their range quickly and found the Heat's three-man pace attack very much to their liking, hammering six fours and 11 sixes during their time together in the middle.

Cartwright signalled his intentions when he advanced to the usually miserly Mujeeb Ur Rahman and clattered him into the second tier over long off, and the assault was unrelenting from there.

It was left-armer Guthrie who bore the brunt of the evening's carnage, beginning with a pair of sixes form Cartwright either side of a waist-high full toss that elicited a free hit, and ultimately costing 2-70 from four overs – the most expensive figures in the history of this competition.

Cartwright's assault continued when Steketee returned to the attack in the 11th over, the right-hander whipping a leg-side half volley to the rope for four and then hammering a straight six a few balls later to bring up his fifty.

From the final ball of the over, Steketee just missed his yorker on leg stump and the ball was again spectacularly dispatched behind square, this time over the rope for six.

The carnage continued into the next over when Clarke took to a low full toss with a precisely angled blade and scooped the ball over a fine third man for six more. In seven balls after the innings' midway point, 24 runs had been plundered, and the Heat's early dominance suddenly felt a distant memory.

In the 13th over it was Clarke's turn to reach 50, and he did so with a stunning drive for six over wide long on, again from the bowling of Guthrie who, after bowling a sixth wide and becoming the first Big Bash player to concede 70 in an innings, finally found something to smile about when he had Cartwright caught for 79 (44).

It ended a partnership of 151 from 73 balls – the highest for the fourth wicket in the tournament's history – and triggered another Stars collapse of 6-40 across the final five overs, though it was still enough to earn them a monster total of 9-207.

The innings did cost the Stars the services of Clarke (85 from 44) in their fielding innings, with the Englishman suffering hamstring soreness, but the visitors had a capable replacement in Peter Nevill behind the stumps.

Facing the prospect of such a run chase, the Heat could easily have caved, just as they did at this venue eight days ago against the Thunder.

And when they slipped to 2-12 in the opening over, bowled by 22-year-old quick Brody Couch (3-34), it looked like that would in fact be the case.

But with Chris Lynn and Ben Duckett teaming up and performing and admirable Cartwright-Clarke impression, the contest came to life.

Part of that was a contest within a contest, as the Stars looked to target Lynn with their dual spin threat of Adam Zampa and Qais Ahmed, only for Duckett to take the majority of the strike against the slow men and proceed to unfurl an array of reverse sweeps and clobbers that flew to and beyond the boundary.

Lynn meanwhile, blasted away, possibly outdoing Cartwright with one pulled six over deep midwicket that crashed into the Gabba scoreboard and into the bewildered patrons below.

At the halfway mark the hosts were ahead at 2-91, earning themselves the Bash Boost point, and though they took 21 from the 11th, it cost them the crucial wicket of Duckett (54 off 35).

And when Andre Russell brilliantly intercepted a Lynn tracer bullet at long off to remove the Heat blaster for 57 two overs later, the match had suddenly taken another decisive turn.

From that point, scoreboard pressure told on the Heat, and despite an enterprising 26 (15) late on from Sam Heazlett, the Stars emerged victors in one of the most see-sawing and entertaining contests of BBL|11 to date.