Melbourne Stars' faint hopes of making the Big Bash League play-offs were ended on Tuesday as Nic Maddinson and Nathan Lyon helped fellow struggler Sydney Sixers to an emphatic eight-wicket victory at the MCG.
Both the Stars and the Sixers came into the game with just a solitary win apiece, but the latter looked far superior in a one-sided contest.
Australia off-spinner Lyon was chiefly responsible for limiting the host to a paltry 128 for 7, claiming 3 for 18 as Ben Dwarshuis (0 for 20 from four overs) also impressed.
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Maddinson then took centre stage in the run-chase, surviving a couple of early scares as he blasted five sixes, needing only 31 balls to reach 62.
Sixers reached its target with a whopping 29 deliveries to spare, Daniel Hughes contributing 49 not out.
KP'S AGGRESSION BACKFIRES
After a slow start from Stars, largely due to Dwarshuis giving up just two runs from his first two overs, Kevin Pietersen decided to attack when Lyon was introduced to bowl the sixth over. The spinner's first ball was heaved over short fine-leg for four, but Lyon gained immediate revenge as Pietersen holed out to deep mid-wicket from the next delivery.
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Lyon duly had Ben Dunk caught behind for a second wicket in as many balls, and again needed only two deliveries to strike when he returned later in the innings to dismiss Peter Handscomb.
MADDINSON MAKES HIS MARK
Maddinson was almost caught on the boundary when striking his second six and could have been stumped off Glenn Maxwell on 30. Stars was left to rue those two close calls as Maddinson swiftly put the game beyond it with a brutal display of power-hitting.
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