Twitter Reactions: Melbourne Stars stunningly defend 134 against the Heat courtesy Marcus Stoinis' all-round performance

Marcus Stoinis celebrated his call-up to the Test side in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) for the Melbourne Stars it seems. He smashed 43 runs with the bat opening the innings and then stunningly brought his team back in the game and won it with the ball by picking four wickets at the expense of only 21 runs. The Brisbane Heat faltered in the 135-run chase and fell agonisingly short of the target by 5 runs.

After opting to bowl first, the Heat found it tough to break the opening stand. Stoinis launched a counter-attack on the bowlers in the powerplay itself to add 63 runs along with Ben Dunk. However, once the former was dismissed by Ben Cutting, it was a procession. The Stars managed to add only 71 runs since then and ended up on a meagre total of 134/8 after 20 overs.

While Dunk crawled his way to 24, only Nic Maddinson and Dwayne Bravo managed to get to the double figures. The Heat improved their bowling considerably and it was a collective bowling effort on the day.

Heat crumble at the death

The chase was never going to be tough for the Heat. They were on course for an easy victory after Max Bryant and Brendon McCullum started off decently. Matt Renshaw was the man for them playing patiently and stitched an important partnership with Jimmy Peirson for the fifth wicket.

At 54/4, the duo got together and added 57 runs in 49 balls to keep them ahead in the game. But Renshaw’s 45-run knock was cut-short by none other than Stoinis in the 17th over and this is where the Stars got a sniff. Peirson also lost his cool in the 19th over off the same bowler and it was literally impossible to eke out more than 14 runs off Bravo’s last over and that too at the MCG.

They were 111/4 at one stage and ended up at 129/8 after 20 overs to fall short of the target. Brisbane will have to win each of their next four matches now to qualify for the knockouts while the Stars are at the third position with six victories from 11 matches.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the game:

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