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Match Report:

Scorecard

Stoinis, spinners muscle Stars to big derby win over Gades

Adam Zampa and Sandeep Lamichhane put the Melbourne Renegades in a spin before Marcus Stoinis kept the Melbourne Stars dominating BBL09

The match in a tweet: The vanquished becomes the vanquisher! High-flying Stars stay top of table, avenging last summer's final defeat as Renegades slump to 0-6 to continue premiership hangover in front of 54,478 fans at the 'G.

The score: Melbourne Renegades 9-142 (Marsh 43; Lamichhane 3-26) lost to Melbourne Stars 2-143 (Stoinis 68*, Maxwell 40*) by eight wickets with seven balls to spare.

The collapse: The last time these rivals played the Stars flopped in dramatic fashion to let a maiden BBL title slip through their fingertips. This time it was the struggling Renegades who fell in a heap, losing 7-23 from the 31 balls at the end of their innings to sink to their sixth straight defeat to start the season.

After Shaun Marsh had helped lay a promising platform with 43 off 33 balls, it was the wicket of the Renegades' boom recruit to a clever team catch on the long-on boundary (more on that below) that sparked the almighty collapse.

Dan Christian followed in contentious circumstances in the same over as Sandeep Lamichhane, Adam Zampa and Dale Steyn proved nigh-on unplayable after the Renegades looked on track to post 160-plus.

Bemused Christian exits after umpire's reluctant review

The heroes: On top of the ladder after six games, the Stars bowling attack looks among the most potent in the competition and their dual wrist-spinning threats have been key factors in their success.

Zampa and Lamichhane picked up 5-45 from their combined eight overs to lead a superb bowling effort that would not have gone unnoticed by other BBL sides.

Zampa held his nerve after being smashed for six by Aaron Finch (25 off 24), clean bowling him two balls later, before doing the same to the in-form Beau Webster (29 off 25) to finish with 2-19.

Lamichhane meanwhile dismissed Marsh and Christian in the space of three deliveries and returned to snag the scalp of Tom Cooper, claiming figures of 3-26 to be the main force in the Gades' horror collapse.

Stars leg-spin twins Zampa and Lamichhane rock the 'Gades

The controversy: Two balls after Marsh's exit, Daniel Christian departed in contentious circumstances.

The Stars pleaded with the square leg umpire to review a stumping appeal after Lamichhane beat the bat and keeper Peter Handscomb whipped off the bails, with Gerard Abood only reluctantly agreeing following a lengthy delay.

It proved the right move; Christian's foot was shown to be just hovering in the air when the stumps were broken but the allrounder appeared to have words with Abood as he left the field with a golden duck to his name.

The support cast: Tasked with leading a much-smaller run chase than the Stars would have anticipated, Marcus Stoinis kept his superb BBL form going to take the BKT Golden Cap as the tournament's leading run scorer with another match-winning hand.

The powerful allrounder, who is still yet to bowl an over in the tournament, cashed in on the Gades' ploy to bowl part-timer Tom Cooper for the first over of the innings by smashing 13 off it before launching Will Sutherland 10 rows back into the Ponsford Stand.

Smart Stoinis switches gears to steers Stars to win

It was a clinical performance from Stoinis, who tapped the brakes after losing opening partner Nic Maddinson (17 off 13) following a 53-run stand and then Ben Dunk (15 off 13) as the chase unfolded, and kept the required run rate around the six-an-over mark.

He brought up his third half-century of the tournament off 41 balls, controlling the innings expertly as an unbeaten 68-run stand with captain Glenn Maxwell (40 not out off 32) sealed the comprehensive win.

Stoinis now has 281 runs at an average of 70.25 from six innings in the tournament.

The shot: Maxwell does this so often now that it barely raises an eyebrow, but the degree of difficulty on this reverse-swept six off Tom Andrews was so high it drew the approval of master blaster Chris Lynn.

The catch: it wasn't quite the Ben Laughlin-Jake Weatherald wonder grab from a couple of seasons ago, but this teamwork from Ben Dunk and Nathan Coulter-Nile to remove Marsh proved crucial in the context of the match.


The sign-off: It's been a pleasure, Dale Steyn.

The South African veteran was terrific in the final match of his six-game stint for the Stars, picking up 2-16 (and effecting probably the easiest run out of his career), proving a handful both with the new ball and at the death.

Steyn hopes to return to Australia next summer for South Africa's T20 World Cup campaign as he gets ready to make his return to international cricket next month. English quick Pat Brown, and potentially Haris Rauf who has played three games this season, will fill the void for the Stars.

The next stop: Winless and languishing at the bottom of the BBL standings, the Renegades will look to resuscitate their flagging title defence when they host the Perth Scorchers in Geelong on Tuesday.

The Stars remain at the MCG to face the Sydney Thunder on Wednesday before taking on their cross-town rivals once again in the return bout at Marvel Stadium on Friday.

Melbourne Stars XI: Marcus Stoinis, Nic Maddinson, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Peter Handscomb (wk), Ben Dunk, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Daniel Worrall, Dale Steyn, Sandeep.

Melbourne Renegades XI: Aaron Finch (c), Sam Harper (wk), Shaun Marsh, Beau Webster, Tom Cooper, Dan Christian, Will Sutherland, Cameron Boyce, Tom Andrews, Kane Richardson, Richard Gleeson.