The Stars are desperate to fire in their final home game of BBL|13, in what could be a make-or-break finish to the regular season
All you need to know: Melbourne Stars v Hobart Hurricanes
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Stars v Hobart Hurricanes
What: Match 38, BBL|13
Where: MCG, Melbourne
When: Monday, January 15. Bat flip at 6.30pm local AEDT, first ball at 7.15pm AEDT
How to watch: Channel Seven, 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: Shawn Craig and Ben Treloar (field), Bruce Oxenford (third), Lisa McCabe (fourth), David Johnston (match referee)
Match squads
Stars: Glenn Maxwell (c), Scott Boland, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Nick Larkin, Dan Lawrence, Joel Paris, Corey Rocchiccioli, Tom Rogers, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Imad Wasim, Beau Webster
Hurricanes: Nathan Ellis (c), Corey Anderson, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Peter Hatzoglou, Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matt Wade, Mac Wright
Form guide
Stars: WWWLL (most recent first)
The Stars' momentum has been halted, comprehensively beaten by the Sixers and Renegades in their last two games. Victory in one of those games would have kept their finals fate in their hands, however they are now relying on the Thunder upsetting the in-form Strikers on Sunday night to keep their hopes alive. Both their recent losses have followed a similar pattern; no player standing up with the bat (Hilton Cartwright's 38 against the Renegades was their highest score across both games) followed by a disappointing effort with the ball.
Hurricanes: WWLLL
Like the Stars, any momentum that the Hurricanes had gathered in KFC BBL|13 has been ground to a halt, losing their last three in a row including back-to-back defeats against an in-form Adelaide Strikers. Prior to that run of results, at 3-3, Hobart were preparing for a finals tilt. Now, however, they're out of the running and will be playing for pride at the MCG. The highest Nathan Ellis' side can finish is fifth which, following their sixth-place finish last season, means another year without finals action.
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
He doesn't often get the same attention as his more high profile teammates, but Hilton Cartwright is having another sneakily-good Big Bash season. Batting mostly at No.6 with the task of finishing off the innings with a bang, Cartwright has the third-most runs for the Stars (197) and his strike rate of 150 is bettered by only his superstar captain Glenn Maxwell. From his seven innings, he's only made under 20 once, highlighting his consistency in a very difficult position. Scott Boland played 26 matches for the Hurricanes between BBL|09 and BBL|11 after starting his Big Bash career with the Stars. He's back in green and faces his old side for the first time after taking three wickets in his first two games of BBL|13.
Nikhil Chaudhary's maiden BBL campaign continues to go from strength to strength with another all-round display against the Strikers. The Delhi-born 27-year-old has hit 149 runs and taken five wickets this season, proving to be a real asset for Nathan Ellis' team. Aside from his diamond duck, his scores this tournament read 40, 32, 55 and 22, all while hitting at a strike rate of 144.66. Fellow spinner Paddy Dooley (six wickets) hasn't had the same impact as he had last season, not taking regular wickets and conceding almost nine runs an over. However, the mystery spinner is undoubtedly a match-winner and will enjoy returning to the wide expanses of the MCG where he took 1-27 from four overs last season.
Head-to-head
Overall: Stars (13 wins), Hurricanes (7 wins)
At MCG: Stars (6 wins), Hurricanes (3 wins)
Most runs: Glenn Maxwell (526), Ben McDermott (414), Marcus Stoinis (371), Luke Wright (295), George Bailey (294)
Most wickets: Riley Meredith (19), Nathan Ellis (10), James Faulkner (10), John Hastings (9), Adam Zampa (9)
The venue
Rapid stats
- The Stars are aiming to defeat the Hurricanes twice in a single season for the first time since 2019-2020
- The Hurricanes have lost their last three BBL matches; the last time they recorded a longer losing run in the competition was a four-match span in January 2020
- Each of the Stars' last seven BBL matches at the MCG have been won by the team bowling first; the Stars have won just two games in that time, and lost five
- Nathan Coulter-Nile (47) is three away from becoming the third player to take 50 wickets for the Stars in Big Bash history (Adam Zampa 98, John Hastings 50)
- Caleb Jewell (993) and Tim David (947) are both closing in on 1,000 runs for the Hurricanes
What's on the line?
It all depends on Sunday night's match between the Strikers and Thunder; if Adelaide go down in that clash at Manuka Oval, then the door is wide open for the Stars. Glenn Maxwell's side would need victory to leapfrog the Strikers to qualify for their first Big Bash finals series since the 2019-20 summer. If the Strikers get up, however, then both the Stars and Hurricanes will be playing for pride.
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