The final spot in the top four comes down to the final game of the regular season at the MCG
Melbourne Stars v Hobart Hurricanes: match preview
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Stars v Hobart Hurricanes
What: Match 40, KFC BBL|14
Where: MCG, Melbourne
When: Sunday, January 19. Bat flip at 6.30pm AEDT), first ball at 7.15pm AEDT
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, 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: Sam Nogajski and Shawn Craig (field), Donovan Koch (third), Daryl Brigham (fourth), Bob Stratford (match referee)
Match squads
Melbourne Stars: Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran (England), Sam Harper, Blake Macdonald, Glenn Maxwell, Jonathan Merlo, Usama Mir (Pakistan), Joel Paris, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mark Steketee, Douglas Warren, Beau Webster
Ins: Tom Curran, Blake Macdonald. Outs: Ben Duckett (international duties), Brody Couch
Englishman Tom Curran has overcome a calf injury and is in line to make his return after last playing on Boxing Day against Sydney Sixers. Ben Duckett had departed to join the England squad in India.
Spinner Hamish McKenzie re-aggravated a side strain at training on Thursday and has been ruled out for the rest of BBL|14. Blake Macdonald has been named as his injury replacement and comes into the squad of 14 at the expense of Brody Couch.
Hobart Hurricanes: Nathan Ellis (c), Marcus Bean, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Cameron Gannon, Peter Hatzoglou, Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan (England), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Matthew Wade, Charlie Wakim
Ins: Ben McDermott, Cameron Gannon. Outs: Jake Doran, Tim Ward
Ben McDermott returns to the Hurricanes squad after missing the past three matches with a hamstring concern, while Chris Jordan is hoping to overcome a back complaint to be available for the clash with the Stars.
Cameron Gannon also comes into the squad as the replacement player for Billy Stanlake who has been ruled out of the rest of the season with a fractured right scapula. If selected, he will be presented with Hurricanes Cap No.99. Left-handers Jake Doran and Tim Ward miss out.
Club news
Melbourne Stars
Hobart Hurricanes
Get the latest
Most Runs
BBL|14 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
Cooper Connolly
C Connolly
|
351 |
|
2
David Warner
D Warner
|
346 |
|
3
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
280 |
|
4
Mitchell Owen
M Owen
|
270 |
|
5
Marcus Stoinis
M Stoinis
|
264 |
|
6
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
259 |
|
7
Alex Ross
A Ross
|
256 |
|
8
Ben Duckett
B Duckett
|
243 |
Most Wickets
BBL|14 BKT Golden Arm
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Jason Behrendorff
J Behrendorff
|
17 |
|
2
Tom Rogers
T Rogers
|
16 |
|
3
Lance Morris
L Morris
|
15 |
|
4
Lloyd Pope
L Pope
|
15 |
|
5
Spencer Johnson
S Johnson
|
13 |
|
6
Henry Thornton
H Thornton
|
12 |
|
7
Xavier Bartlett
X Bartlett
|
12 |
|
8
Ben Dwarshuis
B Dwarshuis
|
12 |
Most sixes scored
BBL|14
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Glenn Maxwell
G Maxwell
|
20 |
|
2
Cooper Connolly
C Connolly
|
19 |
|
3
Mitchell Owen
M Owen
|
19 |
|
4
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
17 |
|
5
Tim David
T David
|
15 |
|
6
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
14 |
|
7
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
12 |
|
8
Jake Fraser-McGurk
J Fraser-McGurk
|
12 |
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Hobart Hurricanes will be aiming for consecutive wins against the Melbourne Stars for just the third time in BBL history (December 2018 to January 2019 and February to December in 2014), following their seven-run victory when they last met in the final game of last season.
- Melbourne Stars have won their last four BBL matches – the last time the Stars recorded a longer winning run in the competition was an eight-match span from December 2019 to January 2020.
- Hobart Hurricanes have scored 59.3 per cent of their runs from boundaries in BBL|14, their best rate in a single season in the history of the competition. The Hurricanes' batting strike rate (148.7) is their best in a single season.
- Marcus Stoinis (2920) is 80 away from becoming the second player to score 3000 runs for the Melbourne Stars in BBL history (Glenn Maxwell – 3013). Stoinis has scored 391 runs at an average of 55.9 across his last 11 innings in the competition against the Hobart Hurricanes.
- Ben McDermott (2681) is 26 away from becoming the all-time leading run scorer for the Hobart Hurricanes in BBL history (D'Arcy Short – 2706). McDermott has scored 50-plus in four of his last six BBL innings against the Melbourne Stars (91, 67, 55, 17, 2, 50).
What's on the line?
It's win or go home for the Stars who will complete a remarkable turnaround in BBL|14 by securing a finals spot if they beat the Hurricanes. It would be a fifth win in a row for the Stars after losing their opening five games of the tournament.
The Hurricanes already have top spot locked up and will be out to carry their winnings ways into their home Qualifier final against Sydney Sixers at Ninja Stadium next Tuesday night.
KFC BBL|14 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
HUR
|
9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.135 | 0 | 15 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.156 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
THU
|
10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.34 | 0 | 12 |
|
4
SCO
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.219 | 0 | 8 |
|
5
REN
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.139 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
STA
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.073 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
HEA
|
10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | -0.831 | 0 | 7 |
|
8
STR
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -0.122 | 0 | 6 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points