The Melbourne Stars have pulled off the biggest upset of the BBL season with a thrilling four-wicket win over the Sydney Sixers that was full of controversy thanks to a spectacular catch that left experts scratching their heads.
It will go down as one of the great BBL grabs, but there is plenty of debate as to whether Moises Henriques’ one-handed screamer should have counted after the Sixers skipper appeared to plant the ball on the turf.
Tom Rogers was the unlucky batsman to be sent packing on 20 with replays showing that the ball made contact with the ground after Henriques had flown backwards and reeled in the ball with his right hand.
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It was similar to an incident during the Ashes when Mitchell Starc was denied a catch in the outfield because the ball had brushed the grass even though he was in complete control.
The major difference was that the ICC no longer requires umpires to give a soft signal, but they still have to do it in the BBL, with the umpires on Tuesday night indicating they thought it was out.
The commentary team all agreed that Rogers should have survived, with the Stars opener seemingly stunned to see TV umpire Claire Polosak flash the red light.
“As I was looking through the vision, I did not have conclusive evidence to say that there were no fingers under the ball so we stuck with the original decision of out,” she told Channel Seven.
SHOOTING STARS
The stars had finally aligned for Melbourne, with the visitors jumping off the bottom of the table after they snapped a three-game losing streak to start the season after they chased down the target of 155 with three balls to spare.
The former BBL heavyweights had lost 10 of their past 11 games but now have a little bit of momentum ahead of away trips to take on the Hurricanes and Strikers in the coming days.
There were some great signs with Usama Mir (3-19) bowling beautifully before Haris Rauf claimed three wickets in the final over to stop the Sixers from adding some crucial late runs which proved telling in the chase.
Superstar Glenn Maxwell looked set for a blistering knock when he nearly smashed a Jackson Bird delivery out of the ground, only to knick one the very next ball which left him fuming as he trudged off.
But they needn’t have worried as Beau Webster anchored the chase with 35 before Hilton Cartwright (47 not out) clubbed back-to-back boundaries in the final over to help them end a nine-game losing streak against the Sixers.
VINCE FINDS FORM
The Sixers’ unbeaten start to the season is over but there was a small victory with opener James Vince finding form after a poor couple of weeks.
The Englishman scored just 16 runs in his first three innings but roared back into form with a magnificent 83 off 55 deliveries to rescue his side after they limped to 4-57 from their first 10 overs.
Vince brought up his 50 with his second six and added 95 for the fifth wicket with Jack Edwards as the pair clobbered 32 off the power surge before the opener was run out by Maxwell.
There are some concerns heading into Saturday’s Sydney Smash with Henriques appearing to injure his left shoulder when he took the catch.
– Martin Gabor
Sixers: Josh Philippe (wk), James Vince, Daniel Hughes, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Jack Edwards, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Jackson Bird, Joel Davies, Steve O’Keefe
Stars: Tom Rogers, Sam Harper (wk), Beau Webster, Glenn Maxwell (c), Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Imad Wasim, Jono Merlo, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf
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