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Simple message keeps carefree Stars in finals hunt

Marcus Stoinis has revealed the key message behind the Stars crushing victory on Sunday that ended the Heat's season and kept their own BBL|11 finals race alive

Facing the prospect of their season being over with a loss to the Brisbane Heat, Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey told his players to just go out and "have fun".

It was a simple message, but Aussie T20 star Marcus Stoinis says it was exactly what they needed to hear after a turbulent second half of the season where almost all of their first-choice players have been sidelined due to COVID-19.

It's no secret the Stars are running on fumes after 13 players fell ill earlier this month, and they have since been forced to play five times in the past seven days to complete their season.

Against the Heat, who have also been hit hard by the virus with 12 players testing positive, both exhausted sides faced the daunting prospect of having to win to keep their season alive.

In the end it was Stoinis's Stars who ended the Heat's season as they romped home chasing 150 with 37 balls to spare thanks to a stellar all-round performance from skipper Glenn Maxwell and a fifth half century of the tournament by English import Joe Clarke.

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"We spoke about it and we just said we need to have fun out there because there's not much else to do for us at the moment," said Stoinis, who also chipped in with 29 not out from 10 balls.

"We've obviously been hit pretty hard from COVID so the focus (tonight was) on the fun and why we play.

"Huss just said pretty much he understands it's been a tough season for us, and the boys are all a bit tired and he just asked us to go out there, have fun and give it one more crack."

Stoinis said after the six-wicket win that rather than focusing on the pressure of losing and being eliminated from another chance to secure their maiden title, the Stars turned their mind to just enjoying the game.

"We actually love playing for this team, we've got a lot of good mates here," he said.

"That's the beauty of sport; how many times do these stories get told of teams winning from nowhere? So that might be us this year. We still have to play good cricket but it's better to see it as an opportunity than it is to see the pressure of it."

The 32-year-old also missed a couple of games following his COVID isolation due to a back injury but said last night he was moving a lot freer.

"I went too hard, probably a typical Marcus Stoinis thing, I went too hard after being locked up for seven days and then get out and try and do everything 100mph and just tweaked the back a bit," he said.

Stars end Heat's season and keep finals hopes alive

The Stars now need to rely on the Sixers beating the Strikers on Monday night or the Renegades to beat the Hurricanes on Tuesday if they are to have any chance of claiming fifth spot and qualifying for finals with a win over Hobart in the final game of the regular season on Wednesday night.

The Heat, on the other hand, go into their final two games of the season against the Scorchers on Monday and Sixers on Wednesday afternoon knowing they have nothing to play for but pride.

Captain Jimmy Peirson, who returned to the field for the first time since his own COVID diagnosis, said it had been one of those seasons where everything "felt like an uphill battle".

"I'm not going to make excuses, we haven't played the cricket we needed to play," he said last night.

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"We had three games where we were missing players right in the crunch time where traditionally if you look at the Heat side, we finish quite strong.

"It's the climate we're in, the game had to press forward … we're very thankful for the guys who came in and answered our SOS and put some performances on the board … the wrong time to be missing some of our best players and that's the way it went.

"Our batting hasn't hit where it should, so we'll have a look at that and look to fix some areas that we'll identify throughout the offseason."