That’s it from us
But thanks for joining us for all the live action tonight at the MCG. The Heat are home by 56 runs!
Brisbane Heat win by 56 runs at the MCG!
20th over: Melbourne Stars 132-9 (Gulbis 61, Beer 3)
Gulbis keeps trucking, giving himself room outside off stump and gliding Fekete down to the rope at third man and then pulling four more through square leg next up, all of which could be crucial to Melbourne’s net run rate. They’ve finished 56 runs short tonight and been thoroughly outplayed by the Heat.
19th over: Melbourne Stars 121-9 (Gulbis 52, Beer 1)
Michael Beer’s off strike with a single down to third man and the other thing that happened in this over was Gulbis bringing up a plucky rearguard half-century from 47 deliveries. Good on him.
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WICKET! Worrall b Lalor 0 (Melbourne 118-9)
Lalor yorks Worrall as well! And tonight has been a ‘mare for the Stars. They’ve seriously bungled this chase and in doing so jeopardised their ideal finals campaign.
WICKET! Hilfenhaus b Lalor 7 (Melbourne 118-8
Hilf gets yorked! It doesn’t really matter at this point but he’s rapped on the toe by Lalor and cleaned up in comical style. That wouldn’t have tickled.
18th over: Melbourne Stars 117-7 (Gulbis 49, Hilfenhaus 7)
James Hopes cops a bit of stick here – flogged for four by Hilfenhaus and then flicked away through fine leg by Gulbis for another. With that he’s done with 0-17 off his 4 in what might well be his last Big Bash appearance. He’s been an understated hero of Queensland cricket for most of the last two decades.
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17th over: Melbourne Stars 107-7 (Gulbis 44, Hilfenhaus 2)
Josh Lalor chances his arm with an LBW appeal that begs the umpire to indulge in a moment of absurdity worse than the Stars batsmen at the start of this innings, but he resists. This game needs a mercy kill.
Crowd figure: 30,649 at the MCG. Nothing to be sneezed at.
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WICKET! Zampa b Swepson 11 (Melbourne 103-7
16th over: Melbourne Stars 103-7 (Gulbis 42)
The heat was well and truly off by the time he came on for his first spell but Swepson has been impressive again tonight. He’s slightly unlucky when Zampa cuts too close to his body and sends an outside edge down to the rope at third man but soon enough he gets his opposite number, bowling Zampa neck and crop to finish with 2-29 from his 4.
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15th over: Melbourne Stars 94-6 (Gulbis 40, Zampa 4)
Gulbis is pulling out party tricks now, darting out towards point before flicking Cutting out to the fence at deep backward square. There’s also an awful moment for Joe Burns down at the boundary when he dives to save a ball and his knee digs into the turf. Is he okay? Looks like it. That looked horrible though.
A finals update: Thursday’s game will be the Adelaide Strikers at home vs TBC
It ain't pretty, but this saving-the-furniture approach could save the Stars' season, when it comes to limiting net run-rate damage. #BBL05
— Jesse Hogan (@Jesse_Hogan) January 14, 2016
14th over: Melbourne Stars 87-6 (Gulbis 33, Zampa 4)
“It’s a potential banana peel game for us” says David Hussey down by the sideline and so it has proven for the Stars. Zampa shows zero respect for his leg-spinning brethren and helps himself to four from Swepson to get off the mark.
WICKET! Hussey c Lalor b Swepson 25 (Melbourne 82-6
Hussey goes! Well, he moved all around his crease there as the leggie came in to bowl and biffed him around the corner but Lalor moved around quickly to take a neat, low catch on the run on the 45 degree angle, three-quarters of the way in from the boundary.
13th over: Melbourne Stars 82-5 (Hussey 25, Gulbis 28)
We’re well inside junk time now but Gulbis is giving the crowd its money’s worth and clatters Ben Cutting over the rope at cow to register his first six of the innings. The Heat are pretty much done as finals contenders too. 20-30 runs more and they can pack up their kit and move on.
12th over: Melbourne Stars 69-5 (Hussey 22, Gulbis 22)
Gulbis is chancing his arm a little more now, chuckling wildly after he steps outside off stump to biff a slog sweep and watching in delight as his fresh air shot distracts Peirson enough that he concedes four byes.
11th over: Melbourne Stars 60-5 (Hussey 22, Gulbis 18)
Josh Lalor is spitting chips when Gulbis swings him around the corner for four but the anger is directed inward because the ball itself was rubbish. Gulbis has been quietly productive in this knock. He’s restoring some credibility to a dire chase.
.@MarkHoward03 - "132 off 58 balls, how do you attack that?".. Junior - "Try and win!". #Experience pic.twitter.com/JbwkqEKzzc
— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) January 14, 2016
10th over: Melbourne Stars 52-5 (Hussey 20, Gulbis 13)
Mitchell Swepson’s having a trundle now with his compact, flat-trajectory leg-spin. There’s 7 from the over but this could end up the worst of both worlds for the Heat; they’re out there for 20 overs as the Stars eek out a fruitless innings and move themselves pass that 76-run mark that kills their opponents’ chances.
9th over: Melbourne Stars 45-5 (Hussey 15, Gulbis 11)
Josh Lalor appears for his first bowl of the night but I’ll be honest, I just want more Samuel Badree. The left-arm paceman keeps things tight enough with only five coming from the over.
8th over: Melbourne Stars 40-5 (Hussey 11, Gulbis 10)
Mark Waugh thinks Andrew Fekete should be offering up plenty of stock here and he’s got more of it than Marco Pierre White. The only problem is when Gulbis has a dip and hammers a half-volley inches past the bowler’s ankles for four. The Stars probably can’t even go close to winning it from here so the main point of interest is that 76-run mark. Gulbis slaps four more through cover to finish the over, which hardly helps the Heat.
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7th over: Melbourne Stars 30-5 (Hussey 11, Gulbis 1)
Hussey survives the hat-trick ball in stroking two out wide of mid-wicket but Badree still sniffs wickets and there’s also a near-run-out when Gulbis turns a single towards square leg to get off his duck. Both batsmen scramble their way through without further calamity so Badree finishes with 5-22 from 4 overs of brilliance. Or was it just bad batting? Let’s say a combination of both.
6th over: Melbourne Stars 24-5 (Hussey 7, Gulbis 0)
If the Heat can bowl the Stars out for 76 or fewer tonight and the Sydney Sixers win their next game by a slim margin, Brisbane are alive. These are incredible scenes at the MCG. So sensational I can’t even focus on Catfish Hopes, which is a shame.
Samuel Badree, the four over specialist par excellence.
— Rick Eyre on cricket (@rickeyrecricket) January 14, 2016
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WICKET! Quiney c Cutting b Badree 0 (Melbourne 23-5)
5th over: Melbourne Stars 23-5 (Hussey 6, Gulbis 0)
This is a fully fledged farce now. Quiney gets a short one first up and tries to flog it into Sunday but mis-timing his heave to leg, simply presents Cutting with catching practice at mid-on. Badree has 5 wickets! And he’s on a hat-trick! And he’s got an over left!
WICKET! Handscomb stumped Peirson b Badree 2 (Melbourne 23-4)
I might be in bed early tonight. Now Handscomb waltzes down the track and misses a wrong ‘un to be stumped miles from making his ground. The Stars are a shambles. Samuel Badree is destroying them.
4th over: Melbourne Stars 18-3 (Handscomb 2, Hussey 1)
It’s hard to keep up with it all at the moment but a stingy over from Hopes here piles further pressure on the shell-shocked Stars, who are basically bringing their opponents back to life in this competition and doing themselves out of an MCG final in the process.
Pretty quiet at the 'G right about now... Thoughts of a home final slipping away 🤔 pic.twitter.com/d5wLaujGQq
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 14, 2016
WICKET! Stoinis c Reardon b Badree 8 (Melbourne 16-3)
3rd over: Melbourne Stars 16-3 (Handscomb 1, Hussey 0)
The Brisbane Heat are alive! We’d written off their chances of a miracle recovery act in this tournament but maybe we shouldn’t have. Now Badree gets Stoinis, who belts him straight to Reardon at mid-off to leave his side three down. Badree has 3-12 from 2 overs!
WICKET! Pietersen lbw Badree 7 (Melbourns 15-2)
Pietersen departs! And Badree is bowling his side towards a win here. Earlier in the over Stoinis took it upon himself to get things moving by belting the spinner over mid-off to pick up four and what follows that is close to unprecedented; Pietersen spears a boundary through backward square leg and almost takes out a security guard who is on the ground retrieving a beach ball. Did that distract him? Maybe, but he doesn’t make contact with a pull on the next one and Badree traps him in front. The Stars are off to an awful start.
2nd over: Melbourne Stars 6-1 (Stoinis 3, Pietersen 3)
Again I find myself heading to a new tab to check James Hopes’ age and I’m here to inform you that he’s not actually 54, as suspected, but a mere 37 years young. He’s still zipping it through too when he’s not rolling his fingers over cutters. Accordingly, Pietersen’s start is far from fluent. Mark Waugh is so absorbed he’s talking about his days in Under-16s club cricket.
1st over: Melbourne Stars 2-1 (Stoinis 1, Pietersen 1)
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. KP arrives at the crease with his side in a spot of early bother and with three deliveries to face from the leggie, lofting the last towards long-on for a single. He’s got a completely blank canvas to work with tonight, Pietersen. Hopefully he produces something artful.
WICKET! Wright bowled Badree - 0 (Melbourne Stars 1-1)
Badree strikes in the first over! And it’s the danger man Luke Wright who goes when he chops on from his second delivery. That’s a disastrous start to the Stars run chase.
The Melbourne Stars need 189 to win!
20th over: Brisbane Heat 188-7 (Hopes 2, Fekete 1)
With a bit more control in his final few deliveries, Worrall limits any major damage and the Heat finish on 188-7 from their full allotment. Is it enough? I sense not but I’m happy to be proven wrong.
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WICKET! Lalor run out 0 (Brisbane 186-7)
More comedy cricket! And a diamond duck for Josh Lalor when he’s run out off a wide! There’s a lot to take in right now but James Hopes is on strike for the final two deliveries.
WICKET! Cutting lbw Worrall 22 (Brisbane 185-6)
Cutting departs to a shaky LBW call! But first...Is Marcus Stoinis maimed? Why is Daniel Worrall even bowling this last over? Cutting went right ahead to fill his boots with a big six and did a bit more damage too thanks to a horrible misfield for four by Michael Beer. Comedy cricket.
19th over: Brisbane Heat 173-5 (Cutting 10, Hopes 1)
James ‘Catfish’ Hopes strides to the crease now and angles a single to third man to get off the mark but it’s solid stuff from Hilfenhaus, who after being taken for 30 off 5 balls finishes with 2-42 from his 3 overs. You’d call that a debacle overall I suppose but it’s also a decent comeback.
WICKET! Reardon c Gulbis b Hilfenhaus 25 (Brisbane 168-5)
Reardon goes! It’s a decent old inside-out drive he crashes over cover but Gulbis maintains his composure running around in the deep to hold the catch and give big Hilf something else to be happy about on a night on which he’s struggled.
18th over: Brisbane Heat 166-4 (Reardon 23, Cutting 7)
He copped a bit of a hiding in one over earlier but Daniel Worrall is back and looking far happier not to be plying his trade against Chris Lynn. Worrall can’t believe his bad luck when Cutting turns the final delivery for four down at fine leg but the bowler did kind of stick it in the precise slot required for such a shot. Decent over otherwise.
.@KP24 - "Every day is a different day!" #Nostradamus pic.twitter.com/Kw3AE6duKf
— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) January 14, 2016
17th over: Brisbane Heat 156-4 (Reardon 23, Cutting 1)
What is going on here? Having bowled a perfectly decent over the one before, Marcus Stoinis has been discarded for Evan Gulbis and Natha Reardon duly launches his late-innings assault, clubbing four down the ground and then a resounding six over cow. The latter is such a rasping blow that he needs to change his bat. Ben Cutting’s got two balls to work with and starts with a single.
Not sure why Reardon wants to change his bat after shots like that? BBL05
— Dave Middleton (@Dave_Middleton) January 14, 2016
16th over: Brisbane Heat 142-4 (Reardon 10, Cutting 0)
There’s one more single to Reardon and Zampa finishes with 2-31 from his excellent four overs.
WICKET! Burns c Hilfenhaus b Zampa 27 (Brisbane 141-4)
Burns departs! That was real cat and mouse stuff as the batsmen tried to get something going against Zampa’s intelligent spin, mindful of the slowing run rate but also that cheap runs await after this over. Burns slog-sweeps him for a huge six but a ball later holes out in the same direction. Zampa strikes again!
15th over: Brisbane Heat 130-3 (Burns 21, Reardon 3)
The multi-talented Marcus Stoinis is on for his first bowl of the Heat innings and with his threatening strike rate it’s a wonder he hasn’t been deployed more often in this competition. Burns shanks him down to long on and continues to bat like someone’s switched his hands around the wrong way. He needs to be careful he doesn’t strangle the life out of his side’s effort here and ditto Reardon. All the action is saved for the final ball of the over in which Burns finally middles one high out towards the deep square leg boundary where Gulbis catches him but has to throw the ball back into play to avoid the rope. Six off the over is a win for Stoinis.
Another Chris Lynn stat: the average distance of his sixes tonight was 93 metres.
14th over: Brisbane Heat 124-3 (Burns 17, Reardon 2)
With Nathan Reardon appearing now for a bit of right-hand/left-hand action, the impressive Zampa is deployed for his third over and he’s focusing on keeping it short and wide to tempt the batsmen into hitting into the wind. They resist this inducement and can only find singles for the most part. That’s a win for the bowler.
WICKET! Simmons b Hilfenhaus 44 (Brisbane 116-3)
13th over: Brisbane Heat 116-3 (Burns 12)
David Hussey maintains his faith with Ben Hilfenhaus, who didn’t give any hint as to the calamity to come when his first ball to Chris Lynn was a dot. All five of the others in that spell went for sixes. Things don’t go worse in this over but in the first instance they don’t get better either when the bowler drops a not-impossible return chance off the bat of Simmons. But moments later there’s redemption when he sends down an off-cutting slower ball to take the West Indian’s stumps.
12th over: Brisbane Heat 109-2 (Simmons 42, Burns 9)
Beer’s shocker continues when he starts his final over with a rank full toss that’s bunted away for two and subsequently called a no ball. But Simmons’ approach to the ‘free hit’ is a little bizarre; he just leaves it. There’s also a wide from Beer but Burns continues to struggle for any fluency so the spinner gets away with some real half-trackers to end his spell with 1-34 from his 4 overs.
11th over: Brisbane Heat 102-2 (Simmons 38, Burns 8)
Burns has been a little scratchy for Brisbane gets moving with some twos as Gulbis continues to seek out the blockhole region and limit the batsman from freeing their arms for boundaries.
Another stat: Chris Lynn has finished his campaign with 27 sixes, 5 more than the tournament record previously held by Chris Gayle.
10th over: Brisbane Heat 96-2 (Simmons 37, Burns 3)
More solid stuff from Zampa but his copybook is blotted when Simmons disdainfully flogs him over long-on for a six.
9th over: Brisbane Heat 88-2 (Simmons 29, Burns 2)
Another stingy over from Gulbis, who is more than handy when he’s on song and on this occasion concedes only 3 from the over, which is gold after all the carnage inflicted by Lynn in the last half-hour.
Below is a valid point. Every other side has tried a spinner far sooner. He’s hardly faltered but that’s the perception; that left-arm spinners in particular can make him uncomfortable.
The Stars missed a trick taking so long to get Zampa on to bowl to Lynn.
— Adam White (@White_Adam) January 14, 2016
8th over: Brisbane Heat 85-2 (Simmons 29, Burns 0)
Where do we go from here? It was an excellent over from Zampa and Joe Burns is no slouch, but after his batting pyrotechnics earlier, the departure of Lynn has sucked the life out of the room a little.
WICKET! Lynn c Quiney b Zampa 56 (Brisbane Heat 84-2)
Lynn departs! Leggie Adam Zampa appears for a bowl and Lynn can’t resist a big smash down the ground but for all the loft it hasn’t quite got the distance and Rob Quiney runs around to catch it at long-on. Lynn goes for 56 off 24 having hit 7 sixes and 2 fours, including five maximums in a row off Ben Hilfenhaus. It was an outrageous knock.
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7th over: Brisbane Heat 82-1 (Simmons 27, Lynn 55)
What has Chris Lynn done to Kevin Pietersen? The Englishman is chatting away to the commentary team as he fields and he can’t find a kind word to say about the man currently demolishing his teammates. He’s preaching caution on Lynn and basically says, ‘let’s see how he goes outside of Australia’. It distracts entirely from Evan Gulbis’ excellent first over though not, it has to be said, from Lynn’s heroics. Sorry Kev.
We would love to see a smile from Lynn! #BBL05
— LadiesWhoLegspin (@LadiesWhoLeague) January 14, 2016
Chris Lynn goes berserk, hitting 5 consecutive sixes to reach 50!
6th over: Brisbane Heat 78-1 (Simmons 25, Lynn 53)
“Jesus, that’s gotta be 120!” Mark Waugh cannot contain himself now. That is the distance he estimates for the slog-pull Lynn launches over the fence at deep mid-wicket when Ben Hilfenhaus appears to replace Worrall. Better is to come Big Hilf can only offer a wry smile when the next two balls disappear a little straighter over cow. The third one’s from a full toss, which doesn’t seem a clever tactic. The fourth? Hammered emotionlessly over the bowler’s head for another maximum. The fifth? In the same direction but flatter to clear the rope! This is unbelievable stuff! He’s 50 from 19 deliveries! Chris Lynn has hit 5 sixes in a row!
5th over: Brisbane Heat 48-1 (Simmons 25, Lynn 23)
Michael Beer restores a little bit of normality with a relatively tidy over but Simmons and Lynn are both always looking for another boundary. Simmons finally gets one off the final ball of the over, artlessly slapping him over the head of the man at mid-on.
4th over: Brisbane Heat 40-1 (Simmons 19, Lynn 21)
How well is Chris Lynn batting? Every time he fails to pierce the field with one of his almighty crunches towards cover it feels like a let-down. He’s playing the most eye-catching shots for none that I’ve seen in a while. The commentators are talking up the thickness of his bat but they’d also do well to note his Popeye forearms, which he uses to great effect in plastering Worrall over long-on for a stupendous six and then another 10 rows back at cow. It’s his 22nd maximum of the competition and with those two scoring shots and a smoking boundary through cover from the final delivery, he’s managed 16 from the over. The Heat have 30 off the last two overs.
Brisbane Heat? More like Brisbane Cold!!!! Anyone? #IsThisThingOn pic.twitter.com/oCtRhtdBXM
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 14, 2016
3rd over: Brisbane Heat 24-1 (Simmons 19, Lynn 5)
Again Beer starts his over poorly and it just gets worse; Lendl Simmons cuts a half tracker to the fence before taking a big stride forward to belt another the next ball and then makes it three in a row through that region when he steps back to a fuller one and spears it through the gap. The worst delivery of all is the fourth, which Simmons belts straight to the man at short fine leg. With a single to Lynn, Beer’s figures are 1-19 off 2 overs; from chocolates to boiled lollies.
2nd over: Brisbane Heat 10-1 (Simmons 6, Lynn 4)
There’s clear joy in the voice of pace-bowling oracle Damien Fleming as he notes the arrival of Daniel ‘Frankie’ Worrall to share the new ball with Beer. That’s because of his wildly-curving, Mick Malone-style approach to the crease, which is a retro delight. Chris Lynn certainly likes the look of him, giving himself some room and cracking a fearsome cross-batted stroke past the bowler’s nose to pick up four. Worrall looks like he’s seen a ghost and I can’t blame him. That was scary. It hit the fence within a split second.
WICKET! Peirson b Beer 0 (Brisbane Heat 5-1)
1st over: Brisbane Heat 5-1 (Simmons 5, Lynn 0)
Oh dear. Jimmy Peirson has been cleansed first ball when he shuffles across his stumps to the fifth delivery of spinner Michael Beer’s opening over and gets nothing behind the ball. He’s gawn! Done! Finished!
The rest of the over? Well, we’re faced with blustery, freezing cold conditions at the MCG, where a small amount of rain was falling five minutes ago. There might be a little more later, too. Lendl Simmons glanced four from the first ball of the innings and put Peirson on strike with a single. That’s where it all went wrong so Chris Lynn’s at the crease already. Perhaps it’s for the best.
A final word before we start
And it’s from the editor of Wisden. England really is in a bit of a flap about the Big Bash, isn’t it?
Sign of the times: main headline on Cricinfo (UK version) is "Stars opt to bowl against Heat".
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) January 14, 2016
David Hussey has stopped by for a chat
On the TV that is, not to me. He’s just said that Mark Waugh was his childhood hero but that the latter probably doesn’t even know his name, a feeling familiar to many players whose careers are now occurring under the selectorial reign of ‘Junior’. Hussey says his other sporting hero was Tony ‘Plugger’ Lockett. For those immune to the charms of Australian rules football, here’s some of Plugger’s best and worst:
While we’re all waxing enthusiastic about the Big Bash
I think it is worth congratulating Australia’s Ten network for the intro sequence for each game, which channels both the sci-fi qualities of Tron and Bon Scott-era AC/DC – a delicate balancing act, I’m sure you’ll agree, but one they’re managing to pull off. Almost makes you forget you’re about to listen to Mark Waugh.
The pitch for this game
...looks like a road. Were we expecting anything else? If Chris Lynn stays in for 10 overs or more I get the feeling that the MCG crowd will get their money’s worth. Meanwhile, I’m not sure that Stephen Hawking would approve of this tweet but here it is anyway.
The secret to @KP24's success? Bending space and time! #Nostradamus https://t.co/8nQHtHoxsC
— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) January 14, 2016
Our teams tonight
Melbourne Stars
D Hussey (c), M Beer, E Gulbis, P Handscomb, B Hilfenhaus, K Pietersen, R Quiney, M Stoinis, D Worrall, L Wright, A Zampa
Brisbane Heat
C Lynn (c), S Badree, J Burns, B Cutting, A Fekete, J Hopes, J Lalor, J Peirson, N Reardon, L Simmons, M Swepson
All that and the bantz is already off the charts.
Junior - "Simple, Heat need to win by square coefficient of 2.8735 & Venus aligns w/ Jupiter's moons" #ItsNotOverYet pic.twitter.com/3cQmx5l5ZK
— TEN Sport (@tensporttv) January 14, 2016
Preamble
Hello OBOers and welcome to today’s Big Bash League clash between third-placed Melbourne Stars and the struggling Brisbane Heat, who’ve been all sizzle and no sausage so far. Their best hope now is to spoil everyone else’s party. That’ll happen when your best bowler for the tournament sits 30th on the league rankings and you’ve only got one batsman inside the top 20, even if he’s rising star Chris Lynn.
Anyway, I don’t mean to talk this down. You never know what could happen when the flashpots sizzle and the zing bails fizzle. The Stars have done the right thing and won the toss. They’ll be having a bowl by the looks. I’ll be back shortly with the teams.
.@StarsBBL have won the toss & will bowl. Time for some big runs! Tune into @onehd from 6:30 & @tensporttv from 7:30. #TurnUpTheHeat #BBL05
— Brisbane Heat (@HeatBBL) January 14, 2016
Russell will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a read of Will Macpherson’s fantastic profile of Sydney Sixers wicketkeeper Ryan Carters – a player who away from the game is determined to improve the lives of impoverished men and women the world over.
I’d travelled around the cricket-playing world, witnessing such a shocking level of inequality between Australia and other countries. I just thought there’s no reason not to at least try to make a difference in people’s lives, and I felt education was the best way to do that.
Read the full article here.
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