Super Stars sink Thunder to reach BBL Final

The match in a tweet: Stars end losing streak to surge into BBL Final after masterclasses from #BBL09 standout Marcus Stoinis and surprise packet Nick Larkin downed brave Thunder

The scores: Melbourne Stars 2-194 (Larkin 83*, Stoinis 83; Morris 2-30) defeat Sydney Thunder 8-166 (Ross 58, Nair 30; Rauf 3-17) by 28 runs

The hero

Hardly a household name among the Stars' glittering crew of, well, stars, Nick Larkin delivered an outstanding knock in the most important game of his team's season to outshine all of them.

Larkin's unbeaten 83 that came from five fewer deliveries than opening partner Marcus Stoinis' own 83 (54 balls to 49) was made even more impressive given his first 25 runs came at only marginally faster than a run-a-ball.

He was nonetheless, initially, an effective sidekick to Stoinis who dominated the scoring and the strike before his departure with three overs to come.

But Larkin hit top gear after Stoinis' dismissal, smashing 58 off his final 25 deliveries and almost singlehandedly ensuring 38 came off the final three overs, relegating designated finisher Glenn Maxwell (four off six balls) to mere observer.

It was a match-winning innings from a batsman his New South Wales teammate Trent Copeland said has previously been "pigeon-holed" as a red-ball specialist.

He now shapes as a surprising dangerman for Saturday's final against the side from his native state, the Sydney Sixers.

The support cast

From the moment he hit the second ball of the match for six over long-off with a pure swing of the bat, Marcus Stoinis looked back in the form that saw him earn player-of-the-tournament honours.

Admittedly, three scores of 17 or fewer coming into the do-or-die clash hardly amounted to a 'slump' but the Stars' losing streak had magnified a perceived reliance on their star duo of Stoinis and Maxwell.

An edge down the leg-side fluffed by keeper Jay Lenton (more on that below) aside, Stoinis hardly put a foot wrong on the way to a brilliant 83 off just 54 ball only days after missing out on a recall for Australia's limited-overs sides.

The right-hander's knock was typically powerful, but his most devastating stroke was his improvised deft scoop over the short fine leg fielder (who the Thunder refused to put on the boundary) that proved his most devastating weapon, finding the fence numerous times with the shot as well as for the last of his three sixes.

Stoinis also peppered the cover and third-man boundaries in his seventh score of more than fifty for the tournament, finally having his stumps rattled by Chris Morris when attempting another ramp.

The chances

It was a horror night in the field for the Thunder, who gave Stoinis and Larkin no fewer than three chances during the pair's 117-run second-wicket partnership.

Stoinis should have been out on 19 when he tickled a leg-side delivery from Morris to Lenton, who is rated highly for his skills as a pure gloveman, but the tall keeper somehow put down the straightforward chance.

Daniel Sams then dropped a more difficult outfield catch running back towards the square leg boundary when Larkin was on eight.

The duo's lucky night was capped off when they survived a comedic mix-up that saw the pair collide mid-pitch – sending Larkin's bat flying, a lucky escape given Stoinis' immense frame – while taking a second run.

Yet because bowler Jono Cook had gone to chase the ball, there was no one at the bowler's end stumps to gather the throw that should have seen Stoinis run out.

The efforts

In contrast the Stars were superb in the field, in the Power Play especially, as Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja struggled to penetrate the infield.

It might have only saved one run, but the sight of four Stars fielders sprinting to stop a boundary off Khawaja, resulting in Clinton Hinchliffe's successful full-length dive to keep the ball in play, was a reflection of the gap between the two sides.

The impact

The Thunder's intimidating opening duo of Hales and Khawaja needed to go big if the visitors were going to be any chance of knocking off the Stars, and in the space of nine deliveries, Nathan Coulter-Nile had removed both.

Hales, in dominant form with five fifty-plus scores from his previous eight BBL innings, knocked one to Coulter-Nile at mid-on and took off for a quick single. But the athletic fast bowler pounced and, crucially, released the ball deceptively quickly to have the Englishman run out by millimetres.

Thrown the ball soon afterwards, Coulter-Nile then bowled Khawaja with his first ball of the match to put a major dent in the Thunder's run chase.

The consolation effort

On a difficult night for the Thunder, Chris Morris stood tall to take the only two wickets of the Stars innings and finish as their most miserly bowler before adding 21 off 16 balls including a towering six.

The South African will also rue Lenton's dropping of Stoinis down the leg-side in the Power Play that, had it been taken, could have seen the match take altogether different complexion.

The stat

The team batting first has now won all four of this season's finals games.

Captains appear to be taking note too; only once - the Adelaide Strikers' Travis Head in their loss to the Thunder – has a captain elected to field first during the business end of the tournament.

The next stop

After days of scrutiny on their poor finals record (which now stands at three wins and seven losses over the nine editions of the BBL) the Stars are into the decider for a second straight season.

They will face the Sydney Sixers at the SCG on Saturday in a rematch of last Friday's Qualifier final as they look to make amends for last year's defeat to the Melbourne Renegades.

Despite their exit, the Thunder are unlikely to look back on their end of their campaign with too much regret.

Finishing fifth after losing more games than they won, Sydney's green team saved their best cricket of the tournament for their unlikely finals run, as they knocked off more-fancied opponents Hobart Hurricanes and Adelaide Strikers away from home to set up their date with the Stars.

Stars XI: Marcus Stoinis, Seb Gotch (wk), Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Clint Hinchliffe, Adam Zampa, Daniel Worrall, Haris Rauf

Thunder XI: Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson (c), Alex Ross, Arjun Nair, Chris Morris, Daniel Sams, Jay Lenton (wk), Nathan McAndrew, Chris Tremain, Jono Cook