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Morgan keeps Thunder alive with last-ball win
- Updated: January 4, 2017
Sydney Thunder 4 for 168 (Morgan 71*, Hilfenhaus 2-39) beat Melbourne Stars 8 for 166 (Pietersen 60, Maxwell 34, Watson 3-23) by six wicketsScorecard and ball-by-ball details
The defending champions are still alive – mathematically at least. Eoin Morgan crunched a last-ball six straight down the ground to give the Sydney Thunder a famous six-wicket win – their first of the season – in his last game for them before he flies to India with the England team.
The Thunder required five to win from the final ball, and as the smite – off a half-volley from Ben Hilfenhaus – flew into the sightscreen, Morgan dropped his bat and leapt. Pat Cummins, the bowler who reinvented himself as an allrounder at No. 6, and who had already hit a huge six earlier in the over (from which the Thunder had required 16), gave him a bearhug.
Earlier, Morgan’s former England team-mate Kevin Pietersen had guided the Stars, who were invited to bat, to 8 for 166. But his dismissal sparked a dismal collapse in the final five overs, and it came back to haunt him.
KP’s back
Without the middle-order ballast of Peter Handscomb – who should return for the latter half of the pool stage – the Stars’ batting line-up looks rather top-heavy. Over 70% of Stars’ runs this season have been scored by their top three – if they are to make the finals again, this needs addressing.
And so it proved here. Glenn …
