Stoinis, Larkin shine as Stars make it to BBL final – Cricbuzz – Cricbuzz

BIG BASH LEAGUE 2019-20

Marcus Stoinis en route his classy knock of 83 Getty

Momentum wasn't quite the buzzword of the night. Melbourne Stars had lost four games on the bounce leading up to this Challenger match against the Sydney Thunder when this happened: Glenn Maxwell won the toss and chose to bat first, quite out of sync with how the Stars normally function, but the team responded appropriately, racking its highest ever score in a knockout game and storming into the BBL final. Stars will now meet Sydney Sixers on Saturday at the SCG.

That Stars could put up a match-winning 194 on board was mostly thanks to Marcus Stoinis and Nick Larkin, both of whom scored 83 runs apiece in a stunning 117-run partnership for the second wicket. Losing Nic Maddinson to Chris Morris in the fourth over was a big blow, but it was a one-way traffic from thereon. Both Stoinis and Larkin scored at a strike-rate of over 150. Stoinis, the highest run-getter of the tournament, continued his run-making ways, starting his innings with a six and finishing in a whirlwind with a 54-ball 83. That he was dropped on 19 by the keeper remains one of the missed opportunities of the night by the Thunder.

At the other end was Larkin, not out on 83 off 49 by the end of the innings and showing just why he'd been persisted with all these seasons. Batting at No. 3, Larkin was fearless and clear about his shot selection. He was the perfect foil to Stoinis's aggression at the start, before making up his numbers later in his innings, notably against Arjun Nair's bowling in the 15th over. And when Stonis fell to Morris in the 17th over, Larkin stayed put for the rest of the overs to help pinch 14 runs from the 18th over and 17 runs from the 20th over.

For Thunder, the run-chase went from steep to steeper as early as the third over, when a direct throw from Nathan Coulter-Nile -- stationed at mid-on -- saw the end of their in-form batsman, Alex Hales. Coulter-Nile would then come and account for Usman Khawaja with his first ball, which compounded by Haris Rauf's strike of Callum Ferguson, capped the powerplay score at 46/3.

Rauf would come back and get Morris on 21 off 16 balls in the tenth over, making things further difficult for the Thunder. Alex Ross swept his way to 58 off 38 while Arjun Nair played a cameo of 30 off 17, but their individual efforts, although standouts in the Thunder innings, weren't quite enough on a night also dominated by Rauf's frugal figures of 3 for 17. Thunder scraped to 166/8 in their 20 overs, needing 31 off the last six balls - an apt representation of just how much they had left for the end.

Brief Scores: Melbourne Stars 194/2 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 83, Nick Larkin 83*; Chris Morris 2-30) beat Sydney Thunder 166/8 in 20 overs (Alex Ross 58; Haris Rauf 3-17) by 28 runs

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