Twitter Reactions: Sandeep Lamichhane, Dawid Malan and Boland take Hurricanes to a proper win

An eye-catching, boundary-laden half-century from Dawid Malan propelled the Hobart Hurricanes to a competitive total of 164 for 5 against the Melbourne Stars, in the 23rd encounter of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21. After being inserted by Stars’ skipper Glenn Maxwell, the Hurricanes lost D’Arcy Short (12 from 7) early as he was cleaned up by Maxwell while trying to slog the off-spinner. Much to his misfortune, the ball ricocheted off his elbow to his bat before landing straight into the stumps.

His partner Ben McDermott, who was struggling to find his rhythm, fell to Billy Stanlake, although he ensured to give the team solid platform through his solid 82-run stand for the second wicket alongside a free-flowing Malan. Hitting just a four and six during his 35-ball presence, McDermott seemed content in giving the strike to Malan, who slammed 7 fours and 3 sixes in his 75 from 56.

The momentum was disturbed for the Hurricanes in the 13th over when Stanlake’s slower one cleaned up McDermott (31), and the pacer struck on the immediately following delivery, getting Nathan Ellis caught for a duck by Glenn Maxwell at mid-on. Some late acceleration from Colin Ingram, who slammed three sixes during his 26-run cameo, led the team to set a 165-run target for the opponents.

Glenn Maxwell’s heroics in vain

The Stars made a hollow start as they lost two power-hitters Andre Fletcher and Marcus Stoinis cheaply. While Stoinis (7 from 10) failed to successfully flick a length ball from Scott Boland, and picked Peter Handscomb at midwicket, Andre Fletcher founds himself yards short of the crease after he ran for a single that was nowhere on offer. D’Arcy Short’s direct hit proved fatal for Fletcher, who fell for 10 from 8, leaving his side 17 for 2.

Skipper Glenn Maxwell joined Hilton Cartwright in the middle as the duo added 23 from 16 deliveries, however, Cartwright, who failed to hit even a single boundary, soon fell at 8, to a misread googly from Sandeep Lamichchane. Maxwell sparked immense hope through his magnificent 70-run knock, however, he craved for support and failed to get any as Nicholas Pooran – who looked positive for a brief while before he edged one from Boland behind the wickets – fell for 14, and Ben Dunk (2) fell soon after Maxwell’s dismissal to another one of Lamichchane’s perfect googly.

Once Maxwell, who slammed 6 fours and 5 sixes in his dominant knock holed out to midwicket off the bowling of Johan Botha, the target became an uphill task. Lamichchane and Ellis bagged two, whereas Boland was the pick with 3 crucial wickets, as Stars fell 21 short of the target to register their third loss of the season.

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