Bad weather meant the Stars had to chase Hobart's total in a rain-reduced 10-overs-a-side match at Ninja Stadium
Stars comfortable with batting decisions amid rain-hit finals loss
Melbourne Stars coach Peter Moores has defended his side's use of Glenn Maxwell in a rain-hit Big Bash League elimination final loss to the Hobart Hurricanes.
He also thinks a tweak to the Power Surge should be spoken about, after the Stars lost their ability to use the fielding restriction tactic when their target was adjusted.
The Stars went down by three runs to the Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday night at Ninja Stadium, falling just short of their Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target after they had to chase Hobart's 5-114 in a rain-reduced 10-overs-a-side game.
But that was changed to a victory target of 85 from seven overs after rain forced play to stop after two overs of the chase.
Batting at No.5, master blaster Glenn Maxwell, who has struggled for runs this tournament, faced just four deliveries.
Maxwell entered the fray with 11 deliveries left when the Stars opted to retire player-of-the-tournament Sam Harper.
Moores said the decision to stick with Tom Rogers and Harper as openers and Joe Clarke at No.3 was made in the context of it being a 10-over game.
"We sent out two lads who have played really well … to send them out for the two overs of Powerplay made complete sense," he said.
"Joe Clarke is an opener as well. We lost an early one in Tommy and (sent out) Joe and then obviously the rain came.
"Marcus (Stoinis) was next and 'Maxi' (Glenn Maxwell) after that. You're making decisions as the game evolves. I think we made the right calls."
The Hurricanes were able to call a Power Surge for one over in their innings, but the Stars lost theirs after the DLS adjustment.
"It makes a difference in a short game," Moores said, pointing to English competitions where fielding restrictions in rain-reduced games are calculated as a percentage and can sometimes be a portion of an over.
"It seems to make sense. It's quite simple to do.
"We've done that over in England for a bit. Maybe it's something but we play to the rules of each competition and we've got no complaints about it."
It was a brutal end to the season for the Stars, who are the only club without a title.
They would have locked up top spot on the ladder and a home final if they'd beaten Perth Scorchers in their final regular-season game.
"We'll look back on a tournament where a lot of people played well. The frustration is that I think we were playing well enough to win it," Moores said.
"If it didn't hurt you, you wouldn't be human in some way. We'll take it on the chin and we'll move on."
BBL|15 finals schedule
Qualifier: Perth Scorchers beat Sydney Sixers by 48 runs
Knockout: Hobart Hurricanes beat Melbourne Stars by three runs (DLS method)
Challenger: Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes, SCG (Friday, January 23, 7.15pm AEDT)
Final: Perth Scorchers v winner of Challenger, Optus Stadium (Sunday, January 25, 7.15pm AEDT)
*A reserve day on Monday, January 26 (7.15pm AEDT) is available for the Final
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SCO
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.363 | 0 | 14 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.605 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
HUR
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.759 | 0 | 12 |
|
5
HEA
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.431 | 0 | 10 |
|
6
STR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.231 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.202 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -1.212 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points