BBL 2020-21: Match 40, STA vs STR – A record win for the Stars, Lowest total ever by the Strikers and more stats

Melbourne Stars stormed into the top four in the points table following their 111-run victory over the Adelaide Strikers at the MCG. Stars got boosted by Andre Fletcher’s unbeaten 49-ball 89 after losing the toss. Glenn Maxwell (37) and Hilton Cartwright (30*) provided contributions to lift the Stars to 179/2.

Strikers lost three wickets for 49 runs on the board by half-way stage but collapsed to 68/10 as Adam Zampa bagged a 5-wicket haul. Strikers lost their last eight wickets at the cost of 24 runs in 30 balls.

Here are all the statistical highlights from Melbourne Stars’ huge win during the STA vs STR game:

Lowest total ever by the Strikers:

68/10 – The total of 68/10 by Adelaide Strikers is now their lowest in the BBL surpassing 87/10 which they made against Sydney Sixers in the 2011-12 season. Strikers’ total of 68 is also the 3rd lowest in BBL history behind Melbourne Renegades’ 57/10 and 60/10 respectively against Melbourne Stars (2014-15) and Sydney Sixers (2020-21).

A record win for the Stars:

111 – The 111-run defeat in this game is now the worst in terms of runs for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL. Their previous biggest was by 98 runs in the 2012-13 season against Adelaide Strikers.

This is also the 2nd biggest winning margin in terms of runs in the BBL for the Melbourne Stars behind the 112-run victory against Melbourne Renegades in the 2014-15 season. In this process, Melbourne Stars became the first team to win by a margin of 100+ runs on two occasions in the BBL.

Fletcher defeats Strikers by 21 runs:

4 – Andre Fletcher is now only the 4th player to outscore the opponent’s total in an unaffected Big Bash League match. Ben Dunk (96 for Hurricanes vs Thunder 94/10 in 2013-14), Glenn Maxwell (82 for Stars vs Sixers 74/10 in 2018-19) and Josh Philippe (95 for Sixers vs Renegades 60/10 in 2020-21) are the other three players with this achievement.

Zampa’s record 5-fer:

1 – Adam Zampa became the first spin bowler to bag a 5-wicket for Melbourne Stars in the BBL and also the first spinner with a fifer against Adelaide Strikers in the league history. Zampa’s bowling figures of 5/17 are now the 2nd best for the Stars in the BBL behind Lasith Malinga’s 6/7 against Perth Scorchers in the 2012-13 season.

5/17 – Zampa’s bowling figures of 5/17 are the best in the Twenty20 cricket at the Melbourne cricket ground. Samuel Badree is the only other player to register a 5-wicket haul in T20s at the MCG as he took 5/22 for Brisbane Heat against the Stars in the 2015-16 season.

103 – Zampa also became the 6th player to bag 100 wickets in the Twenty20 format on Australian soil with his 5-fer during STA vs STR game. The leg-spinner completed the milestone with his 2nd wicket of the day which makes him the first spinner with 100 T20 wickets in Australia.

Wells @ 2000 runs:

2012 – Jonathan Wells completed 2000 runs in the Big Bash League when he went past his individual score of six. Wells is now only the 6th player to complete 2000 BBL runs and the first to get there before making a debut in International cricket.

A slow knock by Stoinis:

26 – Marcus Stoinis batted as many as 26 balls scoring 13 runs without a boundary. This is the joint-longest BBL innings without a boundary for the Melbourne Stars. Brad Hodge also faced 26 balls during the 2013-14 season game for the Stars without hitting a boundary against Hobart Hurricanes.

50 – Stoinis had a strike rate of exactly 50 during his 26-ball 13 which is the 4th worst in a BBL game while playing 25 or more balls.

Weatherald goes past Neser:

59 – Jake Weatherald is now the most capped player in the BBL history for the Adelaide Strikers. His 59 appearances for the Strikers are the most by any player going past Michael Neser’s 58 matches.