BBL 2019-20, Match 19: Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars – A record partnership, losing a wicket at 0, Rauf's bowling record and more stats

Melbourne Stars registered their 4th win in five matches in the BBL 2019-20 as they completed a 3-wicket win against the Sydney Thunder on Thursday. Haris Rauf and Glenn Maxwell shared five wickets to restrict the Thunder to 142/7 on a slow track. Marcus Stoinis and Nick Larkin settled the chase for the Stars with the fifties after a wicket maiden first over. The duo added 123 for the 2nd wicket in 15.2 overs before the Stars lost 6 wickets for 19 runs before eventually completing the chase in the last over.

All the statistical highlights from a close win for the Melbourne Stars over Sydney Thunder:

A record stand in the BBL:

123 – The 123-run stand between Marcus Stoinis and Nick Larkin began after the Stars lost their first wicket at the score of 0. This is only the 2nd century stand for the 2nd wicket in the BBL that began at the score of 0/1.

Marcus North and Mitchell Marsh added 103* for the Scorchers after losing the first wicket without any runs on the board in 2011-12 also against Sydney Thunder.

Starting the innings with a wicket:

0 – Both Stars and Thunder lost their first wicket at the score of 0 in this match. This is only the 4th instance of both the teams losing their first wicket at the score of 0 in a BBL match. The game between Thunder and Strikers earlier in this season in Canberra witnessed the last such instance.

Highest partnership for the Stars:

123 – The partnership of 123 between Marcus Stoinis and Nick Larkin is the highest 2nd wicket partnership for the Melbourne Stars surpassing the 120-run stand between Cameron White and Brad Hodge in the 2012-13 season against Scorchers.

Overall, this is the 3rd highest partnership for any wicket in the Big Bash League for the Stars. Rob Quiney and Luke Wright put on 172 against Hurricanes in the 2011-12 season for the opening wicket while Stoinis shared a 137-run stand with James Faulkner for 5th wicket in the 2017-18 edition against Brisbane.

123 – The Stoinis-Larkin partnership of 123 is the 2nd highest for any wicket against the Sydney Thunder in the BBL. Scorchers’ pair of Cameron Bancroft and Hilton Cartwright shared an unbeaten 137-run stand with 2017-18 season for the 5th wicket in Thunder.

A great start for Rauf in the BBL:

10 – Haris Rauf has claimed 10 wickets in his first three matches in the Big Bash League with the 3-fer on Thursday. These are the most number of wickets for a bowler in the BBL after the first three matches. Ish Sodhi took nine wickets across only three matches in played in the BBL which includes a 6-wicket haul.