BBL08 Match 20: Stoinis and Maxwell Show Aussie Colours in Thunder Domination

The Stars gamble to take a home game to Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast paid dividends as they dismantled one of the favourites the Sydney Thunder in emphatic fashion, losing only two wickets in their chase and perhaps proving in the process what a tough job the Thunder will have once their English exports head off in a week’s time.

The question had been asked of the Thunder team as whether or not they could produce a winning total without a big contribution from Jos Buttler who has been excellent this competition, and conversely opposition teams knew that if they could get him early they could pressure the rest of the Thunder batting line up. That was achieved today when both Buttler (18) and Ferguson (0) were dismissed in consecutive deliveries by Scott Boland, and when Watson (14) went not long after the Thunder suddenly found themselves in uncharted waters. Joe Root (26 from 28) again struggled in this format of the game, and it wasn’t until the livewire Daniel Sams came to the crease that the Thunder made some forward progress. Sams scored 42 runs from 25 balls at the back end of their innings which saved his team from a score that looked as though it would struggle to get too many over 100. The final total of 8/135 never looked enough but it was at least something to bowl at.

It is difficult to work out just what kind of captaincy string Watson tried to pull by bowling his young leg spinner Jono Cook in the powerplay six overs – not for one over but two! So much pressure on the inexperienced shoulders, and the 22 runs that came from those two overs gave the Stars the kick along they needed at that point to make the chase a comfortable one. It a decision that cost his team any real chance of victory.

Dunk and Stoinis got the Stars off to that fast start, before Maxwell and Larkin calmly and methodically chased down the Thunder score. They negated the danger of Fawad Ahmed and simply went at a run a ball. Larkin has been a revelation for the Stars since coming in as a replacement for the injured Nic Maddinson and his 41 not out off 41 deliveries again continued his breakout season at the domestic level. At the other end Maxwell showed the kind of batting maturity that he has always been capable of but at times does not show, his 41 not out coming off 31 deliveries and leading his team to victory with almost three overs to spare.

As can be expected, the competition is beginning to tighten up again with each team showing they are capable of winning if they do all the simple thing right. The Thunder will be mulling over how they will score runs once Buttler moves on, while the Stars now lose both Maxwell and Stoinis for almost two weeks of their season – or perhaps even longer if either or both gain selection in the Test team, which isn’t such a long shot.