BBL 07, Match 23 Review: Adelaide Strikers cruising towards the semifinals

It really has been a wonderful season for Travis Head-led Adelaide Strikers and they’ve been ruthless and rampant in every game thus far. The Strikers found themselves challenged only in one game and barring that, it has been all one-way traffic. The story was similar on Tuesday when they locked horned with the already bruised Melbourne Stars.

Batting first, Ben Dunk’s poor run continued as he could register just one run. Kevin Pietersen, who recently announced his retirement, failed to stick around for long. Peter Handscomb followed the suit in the Powerplay as the Melbourne Stars found themselves at 34/3 after 6 overs. Marcus Stoinis got some runs after quite a while but he too found a way back to the dressing room.

Glenn Maxwell had to address a series emergency and he did that in some style. He stitched a brilliant partnership with Seb Gotch, who just kept watching Maxwell’s exploits sitting in the best seat in the house. Maxwell smashed the bowlers out of the park, just the way he usually does and kept the scoreboard ticking.

He stitched 61 runs in 48 balls with Gotch and the scoreboard read 112 in 16 overs. Skipper John Hastings and Glenn Maxwell gave a grandstand finish as they scored 39 runs in the last four overs. They scored 151 runs for the loss of six wickets and Maxwell remained the highest-scorer in their innings with a terrific 60 off 39 balls.

Head and Carey steer Adelaide to the target

Alex Carey continued his purple patch in the tournament as he registered another half-century. Joining him in hunting the Stars down was the skipper Travis Head, who scored a match-winning 50 in very less time. Carey firstly registered a fifty partnership with Jake Weatherland and they amassed runs closely at 9 an over in the Powerplay.

Weatherland fell in the 7th over and in came Travis Head to join the party. Both these players started off cautiously, but as the game progressed, the scoring rate escalated. Carey, who marshaled the innings during the Powerplay, took a step back and played the second fiddle to Head during this 2nd wicket partnership.

They ensured the scoring rate was above 8 and the game was in their control throughout the run chase. It was a well-calculated approach from the duo, which left the Stars’ skipper John Hastings clueless. Neither of his bowling changes did any damage and both players completed half-centuries in the nick of time.

Travis Head finally got dismissed in the 16th over thanks to some smart bowling from Marcus Stoinis. He scored 53 runs off 32 balls, which included five fours and three big sixes. Colin Ingram and Carey completed the final rites as they chased the 152-run target with 8 balls remaining. Carey remained unbeaten on 59 off 52 balls and Ingram scored an 11-ball 15.

Stoinis and Maxwell were the two wicket-takers for the Stars, who registered their fifth consecutive defeat in the tournament. They are yet to get off the mark and their only companions in this prospect are the Sydney Sixers, who are winless in their first six matches.

Brief Scores

Melbourne Stars: 151/6 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 60, Marcus Stoinis 39; Rashid Khan 1/23)

Adelaide Strikers: 152/2 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 53, Alex Carey 59*)

Player of the match: Travis Head

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