Zampa, Fletcher shine as Stars roll Strikers for record low

The scores: Melbourne Stars 2-179 (Fletcher 89*, Maxwell 30, Cartwright 30*) defeated Adelaide Strikers 68 (Zampa 5-17) by 111 runs at the MCG.

The match in a tweet: Did someone order a Spiceman Special? Fletcher heats up before Strikers fall under Zampa’s spell, slumping to record low in MCG’s long-awaited #BBL10 debut

The Spiceman: After a middling first nine games in the BBL in which he had failed to pass 18 but only once been dismissed for fewer than 10, Andre Fletcher justified the faith the Melbourne Stars had kept in him with an explosion of power-hitting.

The Stars had limped to 1-57 from their first 10 overs with his opening partner Marcus Stoinis struggling to get going. But Fletcher timed his innings to perfection, blasting 32 of the 33 runs that came off the Power Surge in a devastating late blitz as the MCG’s shorter straight boundaries proved to his taste.

The absence of the reliable Peter Siddle, the BBL’s best Power Surge bowler with an economy rate of 7.18, proved telling.

Fletcher hit a six off the final ball of the innings to walk off with an unbeaten 89, sharing an emotional hug with skipper Glenn Maxwell with whom he had shared a 61-run second-wicket stand, in a startling return to form and his first half-century in the competition.

The stat: Fletcher may have craved a second career T20 century and he has a fair claim to say that he might have got there in normal circumstances; the 49 balls he faced were the fewest for an opener who had batted an entire BBL innings.

The support cast: The Stars nonetheless made good use of the balls Fletcher was denied.

Maxwell, usually the main attraction, proved the foil tonight in his 28-ball 37 though an advancing six off Cameron Valente briefly stole the spotlight off the rampaging Fletcher.

Hilton Cartwright then finished off in style, taking 18 from Wes Agar’s penultimate over as the hosts bashed a remarkable 122 from their final 60 balls. 

Their imposing total proved a boon for Adam Zampa, who shrugged off an apparent left shoulder injury to claim 5-17 in a typically probing spell that saw the Strikers routed for their lowest ever BBL total, eclipsing the 87 they made back in BBL|01.

Maxwell had landed a decisive blow when he claimed the vital scalp of Alex Carey for just one, leaving the Strikers languishing at 2-8 and unable to even reach 58 at the 10-over mark to claim the Bash Boost point.

The consolation act: It was slim pickings on a dismal night for the Strikers, but coach Jason Gillespie will surely be heartened by Liam O’Connor conceding just 26 from his four overs in his first game of the tournament.

The leg-spinner has become a perennial fill-in for Rashid Khan for the club and with the Afghan star now away on national duties for the rest of the tournament, O’Connor shapes as a key cog in the Strikers’ side for the business end of the tournament.

The full toss: Marcus Stoinis’ uncharacteristically sluggish knock came to an end in somewhat contentious circumstances, with a Danny Briggs’ full-toss deemed to be a legal delivery. Stoinis, whose strike-rate of 50 in his 26-ball stay was well below his usual belligerence, looked non-plussed but replays appeared to show the ball had just snuck in under his waist.

The next stop: The Stars, up to fourth spot and now just a game behind second, get the chance to continue their good home form in a huge Melbourne derby against cellar-dwelling Renegades on Sunday, while the Strikers return to Adelaide to play the Brisbane Heat on Thursday. 

Melbourne Stars XI: Andre Fletcher, Marcus Stoinis, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Nic Maddinson, Hilton Cartwright, Seb Gotch (wk), Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Haris Rauf, Zahir Khan

Adelaide Strikers XI: Alex Carey (c/wk), Phil Salt, Matthew Renshaw, Jonathan Wells, Jake Weatherald, Ryan Gibson, Cam Valente, Daniel Worrall, Danny Briggs, Wes Agar, Liam O'Connor