The moment that may have turned the Stars' season

Melbourne Stars fans may have rued their side's loss to the Sydney Sixers in the final game of the regular season, but captain Glenn Maxwell has pointed to another crucial moment against the Sixers a month earlier that had a major part in denying them a finals spot.

In one of the best games of the season, the two sides went head-to-head on the Gold Coast on Boxing Day with the clash coming down to a dramatic final over.

With the Sixers needing four runs to win from the final two deliveries, a delivery from Maxwell to Steve O'Keefe struck the Sixers batter on the pad on the full before racing down to the rope for four leg byes that handed the Sixers the victory.

Despite O'Keefe seemingly being hit in front of his stumps, neither Maxwell nor any of his teammates appealed for leg before wicket as the Sixers celebrated the win.

"If we had appealed on that (second) last ball, we win that game," the Stars captain said on Tuesday night.

"I bowled a full toss to O'Keefe, it hit him on the pad, and no one appealed.

"If you watch the replay, it looks pretty plumb."

Maxwell says that game and the circumstances in which it finished – he had been forced to bowl the final over because of an untimely injury to ace quick Nathan Coulter-Nile – was emblematic of a season during which they failed to match their winning ways of the previous two summers.

The impact of the newly-introduced Bash Boost point came under the microscope on Tuesday night given it effectively ended the match as a contest only three quarters of the way through when the Stars were no longer able to gain the points they needed to grab a finals’ spot.

Dan Christian and Jordan Silk played brilliant knocks to win the game for the Sixers, though the fact the hosts' incentive to win had been lost took the sting out of the game.

Maxwell insisted he remains a fan of the Bash Boost innovation, one of three new rules that were the brainchild of former Stars list manager Trent Woodhill and introduced for the first time in T20 cricket for this BBL season.

"I think it's been good, it’s been entertaining and I think it's actually changed the way T20 games have been played," Maxwell said of the Bash Boost point.

"It's brought a different tactic to it instead of guys knocking it around and then going hard for the last six overs.

"I like it, it brings a bit of interest to different parts of the game and it tests you as a leader as well."

The outcome of the bat flip against the Sixers was more important for Maxwell, who said it would have been advantageous to know how many runs his side needed to get the bonus point before they could turn their attention to winning the match proper.

The 32-year-old suggested the Stars, who needed all four points to sneak into fifth spot, had the worst of the conditions as they stumbled to 3-46 early on in their innings and lost the key wicket of Marcus Stoinis when he hit one to short fine leg.

"(The bat flip result) was a big part of it. Knowing what you need to chase in the first 10 is a big key and we can decide how hard or easy we go in those first 10," said Maxwell.

"We were targeting around 80 – if things go well, you can obviously go for more than that – unfortunately Stoinis had a bit of bad luck.

"It was a sign of how our season has gone really and every bit of bad luck we could catch, we probably caught it."

The Stars were also left frustrated at their luck with overseas signings this season.

Jonny Bairstow pulled out of his planned stint only weeks before the start of the tournament due to an England Test recall and Dilbar Hussain suffered a quad injury, while Nicholas Pooran and Haris Rauf were only available for part of the season.

"It's been tough work but the fact we had a chance to make the finals is a sign the team is doing its best and trying as hard as it can," said Maxwell, who reiterated his desire to remain as Stars skipper.

The batsman says he is looking forward to spending some time with family ahead of Australia’s T20 tour of New Zealand next month.