The third T20 match of the Big Bash League was played between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder at Manuka Oval, Canberra on 12th December 2021. Glen Maxwell, the captain of Melbourne Stars, won the toss and elected to bat first. Marcos Stoinis and Andre Fletcher came on the ground to open for Stars. On the other side, Callum Ferguson handed over the ball to Jonathan Cook.
It was a good start for Stars and they reached 41/0 at the end of 4th over. Then, a length delivery of Tanveer Sangha took the wicket of Fletcher in the 5th over. Glen Maxwell then came to join Stoinis. Stoinis completed his fifty from just 29 balls in the 8th over.
A good delivery from Cook in the 11th over sent back Stoinis and got a much-needed breakthrough for Thunder. Stoinis made 61 runs from 36 balls with six 4’s and a couple of 6’s. Then no batsman could contribute more runs except Maxwell. Glen Maxwell made 39 runs from 29 balls with four boundaries and Melbourne reached 169 runs at the loss of 8 wickets finally.
Usman Khawaja and Alex Hales came to chase the target of 170 runs in 20 overs. But it was not a good start for Thunder and they lost their first wicket at the score of 21 runs. Then Ferguson came onto the ground to join Hales. Both the batsman did well and added 69 runs to the scoreboard.
Thunder needed a wicket and Clint Hinchliffe did the job for Thunder in the 12th over. Hales was caught at the deep in leg side by Hilton at the score of 90 runs. Ferguson was still there and made a fifty from 33 balls. But in the next over, good delivery from Hatcher took the wicket of Ferguson and Thunder lost his third wicket at 115 runs. After Ferguson, the rest of the batsmen could not play well and Sydney Thunder lost the match by 22 runs.
Adam Zampa was given the title of Man of the Match for his brilliant performance. Adam Zampa took 2 wickets and gave 10 runs only. Ferguson and Hales did well but did not achieve the target. Hatcher also did well and he took 3 wickets of opposition.
Check Stats - Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder Head to Head