Marcus Stoinis set the tone at the top of the order for the Melbourne Stars before Adam Zampa led their defence with the ball
Match Report:
ScorecardStars make it two from two to start BBL|10
The match in a tweet: Super Stars surge clear at the top! Melbourne take maximum points from their Canberra road trip as the Thunder open with a loss.
The score: Melbourne Stars 8-169 (Stoinis 61, Sams 2-24, Sangha 2-26) beat the Sydney Thunder 9-147 (Ferguson 54, Hatcher 3-28, Zampa 2-10) by 22 runs
The batting hero: After missing out on Friday night, Marcus Stoinis wasted little time in getting moving today as he led the Stars to a competitive total on a pitch that become more difficult to bat on as the match progressed.
Having slammed the third ball of the match down the ground for six, Stoinis looked in complete control as he raced to 50 from just 29 balls, striking the ball with such ease that it came as somewhat as a surprise when he sliced a catch to deep cover, his 61 from 37 balls the highest score of the match.
The bowling hero: He only took two wickets in two games this weekend, but Adam Zampa has been one of the most important contributors to his side’s back-to-back wins to start the season.
The leg-spinner returned figures of 2-10 from four overs on Saturday, a spell that included 15 dot balls, to follow up his return of 0-24 from four overs. The leg-spinner is arguably in the best form of his career and appears primed for a big campaign for the Stars.
"He’s been outstanding for a number of years now. And he’s just getting better and better" @Gmaxi_32 on KFC Player of the Match Adam Zampa #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/14WXJWbXOg%E2%80%94 KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 12, 2020
The debutant: One of the hottest young properties in Australian cricket, teenage leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha made an instant impact on debut and looks primed to play a major role in a spin-heavy Thunder attack this season.
After a strong showing at last year’s Under-19 World Cup, Sangha struck with the third ball of his BBL career – a questionable LBW decision that sent the unfortunate Andre Fletcher on his way – and he finished with the impressive figures of 2-26 from his four overs.
Former Thunder spinner Fawad Ahmed has long declared Sangha is a player to watch in the future, and the 19-year-old could be set for a breakout campaign in BBL|10.
The stat: In two matches at Manuka Oval on Friday night and Saturday, the two-over Power Surge has proven to be as productive for the bowling side as it has for the batting team.
The Heat (2-13), Stars (2-19) and Thunder (2-16) all lost two crucial wickets when the fielding restrictions came in, and Glenn Maxwell’s decision not to take the Power Surge on Friday night underlines that the new rule may not favour the batting side as much as first thought.
The save: After two superb pieces of fielding on Friday night, Hilton Cartwright produced another sensational boundary effort that saved two runs and deserved to save more.
Running back towards the boundary at deep mid-wicket, Cartwright threw himself in the air and plucked a high ball in his left hand before, as he was heading over the rope, he flicked it back into play.
That was almost an epic catch from Cartwright! #BBL10 live: https://t.co/XrFGLhrnvT pic.twitter.com/Qhh3teliBk%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 12, 2020
Unfortunately for him and the Stars, the ball then clipped his heel and ended up trickling into the rope, but it was another reminder of just how dynamic the allrounder is in the field.
The next stop: The Thunder have 48 hours to make amends for their first-up loss before they face the Brisbane Heat on Monday night. With a maximum of eight points already in the bag from two games, the Stars head to Launceston tomorrow ahead of their game against the Scorchers on Wednesday.
Melbourne Stars XI: Marcus Stoinis, Andre Fletcher, Hilton Cartwright, Glenn Maxwell (c), Nick Larkin, Ben Dunk (wk), Clinton Hinchliffe, Liam Hatcher, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Dilbar Hussain
Sydney Thunder XI: Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson (c), Baxter Holt (wk), Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Jonathon Cook, Tanveer Sangha