Big Bash League: Sydney Thunder defeat Melbourne Stars by one wicket in a thrilling match
The 2022 Big Bash League (BBL) opened on Tuesday (December 13) with a clash between Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars in Canberra.
Sydney Thunder defeated Melbourne Stars by one wicket.Newly crowned 2022 T20 World Cup champion Alex Hales was again part of the Thunder squad, as well as England teammate David Willey and prolific South African batsman Rilee Rossouw.
In the 2022-23 Big Bash League (BBL) opening match, Sydney Thunder defeated Melbourne Stars in a thrilling game at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a WIN <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/THUNDERNATION?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#THUNDERNATION</a>! 🤯🤯🤯 <a href="https://t.co/58aAyVpwWt">pic.twitter.com/58aAyVpwWt</a></p>— Sydney Thunder (@ThunderBBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThunderBBL/status/1602631308236435457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Thunder, who'd a measly target of 123, got off to a poor start losing Matthew Gilkes (0) and Rossouw (0) to ducks in the first over bowled by Trent Boult. Apart from Nick Larkin, none of the Melbourne Stars' batters reached the 20-run mark.
Stars kept the pressure on Thunder as the Jason Sangha-led side lost wickets at regular intervals while the game remained tense till the last second. Needing seven off three balls, Gurinder Sandhu tied the game with a six, and Thunder needed just one more to win the match.
But Beau Webster's throw was on point, and the game went to the final ball. The right-arm pacer beat Sandhu with the outside of his leg, but keeper Joe Clarke couldn't catch the ball, and Thunder eventually won the game.
Nathan Coulter-Nile was the best bowler for the Stars, picking up three wickets for 19 runs in his four overs. In addition to the right-arm pacer, captain Adam Zampa (2/27) and Boult (2/21) also picked up two scalps each.
Earlier, Thunder won the coin toss and opted to bowl first, which paid off as they restricted Stars to 122/8 in 20 overs. Sandhu (2/23), Fazalhaq Farooqi (2/20) and Daniel Sams (2/21) took two wickets each and didn't allow any Stars batsman to rest.
Match Summary
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Big Bash League, Match 1 |
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Melbourne Stars 122-8 (20 overs): Nick Larkin 25 (26); Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-20, Sams 2-21 |
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Sydney Thunder 123-9 (20 overs): Ross 28 (27); Coulter-Nile 3-19, Webster 2-19 |