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The Melbourne Stars have notched up their third consecutive BBL win, chasing down a monster 206 runs to defeat the Adelaide Strikers away from home.
Led by a 19-ball half century from Marcus Stoinis, which was the second fastest for the franchise, the Stars went on to record their highest ever run chase.
The Strikers, led by an insane and unbeaten 83 from Chris Lynn, managed to smash 3-205, as the Stars were unable to do much damage with ball in hand.
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It was an impressive team effort from the Stars, who have struggled in recent seasons to chase and defend big totals, to make 3-211 with an over to spare.
Beau Webster kickstarted things with 66 off 48 deliveries and was joined at the crease by Stars captain Glenn Maxwell, who piled on a quick 28 off 17 balls, including five boundaries, to keep the run chase alive.
After a stellar half century off 26 balls for English recruit Dan Lawrence on debut, the crazy target seemed reachable for the Stars.
Enter Marcus Stoinis, who went on to smack an unbeaten 55 off just 19 balls, headlined by 10 boundaries in front of the Adelaide crowd.
He and Webster managed a massive 74-run unbeaten partnership to steer their troops to victory in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Just a few weeks ago, the Stars opened their BBL season with lowly totals of 101 and 111.
Stoinis was quick to defend his side and hold them accountable after they went down to the Perth Scorchers by seven wickets with 37 balls remaining in their second match of the season.
“I honestly think we took a big step forward in attitude. So, if we can control our attitude more often than not, we’ll start to shift things around,” Stoinis said in early December.
It seems like the Stars are doing everything right in hopes of winning their maiden BBL title, as they prepare for their biggest challenge of the season, facing cross-town rivals the Melbourne Renegades on Tuesday at the MCG.
