Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers meet for the second time this season in a match filled with high stakes as finals near
All you need to know: Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers
What: Match 28, BBL|13
Where: MCG, Melbourne
When: Saturday, January 6. Bat flip at 6.30pm local AEDT, first ball at 7.15pm AEDT
How to watch: Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps
Officials: Greg Davidson (field), Ben Treloar (field), Paul Wilson (third), Daryl Brigham (fourth), David Johnston (match referee)
Match squads
Stars: Glenn Maxwell (c), Scott Boland, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Nick Larkin, Dan Lawrence (England), Jono Merlo, Joel Paris, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Imad Wasim (Pakistan), Beau Webster
Stars wicketkeeper Sam Harper won't play at the MCG after being struck by a ball during Friday training, which resulted in him being hospitalised. Without a backup wicketkeeper on their BBL list, the Stars have signed former player Peter Handscomb ahead of the crunch clash.
Sixers: Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Tom Curran (England), Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Todd Murphy, Stephen O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, James Vince (England)
Form guide
Stars: WWWWL (most recent first)
The Stars have found their groove with four wins in a row after having a poor start to the season where they lost their first three games. They would be eyeing a strong finish, particularly after a dominant win last outing over cross-town rival Melbourne Renegades at the MCG.
Sixers: LDDLW
It has been a while since the Sixers last won with their last four games featuring losses on either side of back-to-back draws. But with the draws has meant less cricket for the team in magenta, meaning a fresh and energised side would be expected to face the Gades. Greg Shippard's side defeated Brisbane Heat by three runs decided by DLS in their last game on January 3 as rain came into effect for a third-straight Sixers game.
KFC BBL|13 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.972 | 0 | 16 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.339 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.725 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
STR
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.331 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
HUR
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.268 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.051 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
REN
|
10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | -0.288 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
THU
|
10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | -0.652 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Players to watch
Marcus Stoinis had an innings to remember in the New Years Eve clash as he shocked the packed Adelaide Strikers home crowd with an unbeaten 55 off 19 deliveries to steer the Stars to victory. His spectacular knock alongside Beau Webster’s unbeaten 66 off 48 balls achieved a run chase task of 4-205 with an over to spare.
There is hardly anyone that has had a bigger year than Glenn Maxwell, and with the electric all-rounder finding form in the last Stars outing, it will be hard to keep your eye off him. In the big stage of the Melbourne derby, Maxwell didn’t spend anytime mucking around as he launched an unbeaten 32 from 15 deliveries to chase down the Renegades’ 97 with two overs to spare. Notably, the 35-year-old struck five boundaries including three sixes.
Scott Boland will return to Melbourne ahead of the Stars match against the Sixers after being released from Australian Test squad. The fast bowler will be roaring to go for the Stars after having not played in recent Australian Test matches over the last month.
James Vince was sublime the last time these two teams faced off with the Englishman notching his best performance of the BBL season with 83 from 55 deliveries. While he hasn’t been able to remain consistent with that level of performance this campaign, he will be a threat at the top of the Sixers order alongside Josh Philippe.
Head-to-head
Overall: Stars (8 wins), Sixers (13 wins)
At MCG: Stars (4 wins), Sixers (5 wins)
Most runs: Glenn Maxwell (688), Moises Henriques (483), James Vince (383), Josh Philippe (353), Marcus Stoinis (341)
Most wickets: Sean Abbott (19), Ben Dwarshuis (18), Steve O'Keefe (18), Adam Zampa (13), Glenn Maxwell (11)
The venue
Rapid stats
- The Melbourne Stars defeated the Sydney Sixers by four wickets when they last met in the BBL (26 December 2023), snapping a nine-match losing run against them; the Stars will be aiming for back-to-back wins against the Sixers for the first time since January 2020.
- The Sydney Sixers have lost each of their last two BBL matches, as many defeats as they logged across their 11 games in the competition prior to that span (W9L2); the last time they recorded a longer losing run in the competition was a three-match span from January to December in 2022.
- The Sydney Sixers have taken exactly two wickets during the death overs (17th-20th) in each of their last four BBL innings; the Sixers have logged at least one wicket during this period across their last 13 innings in the competition against the Melbourne Stars (21 wickets in total).
- Sean Abbott (99) and Steve O’Keefe (99) are both one away from reaching 100 appearances in the BBL for the Sydney Sixers; in addition, Abbott (149) is one away from becoming the first player to take 150 wickets for the Sixers and the first for a single team in BBL history.
- Marcus Stoinis (97) is three away from becoming the second player to hit 100 sixes for the Melbourne Stars in BBL history (Glenn Maxwell - 114); his most sixes in a BBL innings came against the Sydney Sixers (8–12 January 2020).
What's on the line?
Despite patches of rough form suggesting these two teams wouldn't be in the equation for top spot this season, it is exactly where they fall heading into this encounter. A win could put either side on top of the BBL standings. Meanwhile a loss could have either side at risk of falling outside the top four.
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