The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
So that is it from the first match of the BBL 2023-24. Brilliant show by Munro and the Heat bowling unit. This Probuddha Bhattacharjee signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Bidipto. Stay tuned on Sportskeeda to enjoy the live coverage of other action from the cricketing world.
Colin Munro has been adjudged the Player of the Match! Here is what he has to say.
Colin Munro: It is obviously nice to have a couple of the Australian regulars in the team today. Their runs definitely helped. I was trying to hit the ball as straight as possible today and it worked out fine. Hope to keep going like this.
While the task was already pretty difficult for the Stars, they were off to a horrendous start and got themselves in a deeper hole. The Melbourne Stars lost two wickets in the very first over and the onus of the team was pretty quickly on the skipper, Glenn Maxwell.
Maxwell got off to a flying start and gradually set up the tone for a big chase. He smacked Spencer Johnson for 18 runs in one over and that got Maxi going in the innings. Joe Burns played the perfect complementary role to him and the duo stabilized the proceedings for the Stars./
But Mitchell Swepson gave the body blow to the Melbourne Stars as he picked up Maxwell in the sixth over when he was batting at 22 off 14. This was followed by the wicket of Marcus Stoinis in the next over and the Stars began to lose the plot from there on.
Joe Burns, who was batting steadily at one end, followed the other two soon. At the halfway stage, the Stars were struggling at 73 for 5, with Hilton Cartwright showing a bit of fight back. However it was still a very steep climb for the Stars and the Heat had the game in their grasp.
They further strengthened their hold and even though Cartwright showed a bit of resilience, it was not enough to get the Stars even close to the target. In the end, the Stars were bundled out for just 111 runs in 15.1 overs. The Heat won the match by 103 runs, which is the biggest in terms of runs for them in the history of the tournament.
15.1 Mitchell Swepson to Olly Stone, over the wicket, KNOCKED HIM OVER! BIGGEST WIN FOR THE HEAT IN THE HISTORY OF THE COMPETITION! Full and flat but straight as well. Stone went for a slog across the line from down on one knee and missed it altogether. The ball then sneaked through his defense and clattered into the stumps!
Olly Stone b Mitchell Swepson 2 (3b, 0x4, 0x6)
Mitchell Swepson [3.0-0-23-0] is back into the attack.
So the game is literally over. The formality of picking up the last wicket is just left and let us see how long this elongates.
15
overs
111/9score
W
1
0
W
1
1
runs
Olly Stone*
2(2)
Nathan Coulter-Nile
1(1)
Xavier Bartlett
2/8
14.6 Xavier Bartlett to Olly Stone, full and slow on middle-stump. Punched down to wide long-on from deep in the crease for a single to keep the strike.
14.5 Xavier Bartlett to Nathan Coulter-Nile, short and slightly slow on middle-and-leg. Pulled around to the fine-leg region off the back foot for a single.
Nathan Coulter-Nile, RHB, comes out to bat as the last man. He will bat with a runner and it is Sam Harper.
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The Gabba, Brisbane
Olly Stone
*
Xavier Bartlett
Video
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