Maxwell’s stunning 90 guides Stars to victory over Renegades

A solo-effort by Glenn Maxwell has kept the Melbourne Stars in the race for a playoff spot this BBL, with the all-rounder crushing 90 from 52 to guide his side to a 42-run victory over the Melbourne Renegades on Sunday night.

Meeting for the second time in 10 days, the Stars came into their second match against the Renegades as slight underdogs across Big Bash bookmakers.

Live betting odds ballooned in the Renegades’ favour when the Stars’ batting order misfired, leaving them floundering at 7/75 midway through their innings.

Enter player-of-the-match Maxwell, who not only scored well over half of the Stars’ runs, but farmed the strike masterfully to ensure his team posted a competitive total.

At one stage, Maxwell shared an 81-run partnership lasting 46 balls with spinner Usama Mir, of which Mir faced just five balls and scored zero runs.

Records fell as the masterclass unfolded, with the Stars making 90 of their runs after the fall of the seventh wicket (the most in the BBL) and Maxwell striking 10 sixes (his most in a T20 innings).

The result was 165 runs from the Stars 20 overs, which ended up being more than enough to secure victory.

Mark Steketee was sublime with the ball for the Stars, taking 5/17 to leave the Renegades in tatters at 4/44 and then all-out for 123.

Only Tim Seifert (26 from 26) and the extras tally crossed the 20 runs mark, with half of the Renegades’ batsmen falling for single figures.

“Just so glad we could get over the line,” Maxwell said after the match.

“A lot of emotion going through when you are six or seven down and don’t have many on the board.

“You start thinking if the season is done, such a wild night and happy to get the job done.”

The result means that the Stars – who lost their first five matches of the season – are now very much in the hunt for a top-four spot.

Cricket betting sites have shortened their odds from $26 to $13 to win the title, and to just $3.50 to make the post-season.

Despite currently sitting fourth on the BBL table, they will need to win their final match – against the Hobart Hurricanes on Sunday – and have other results to go their way.

For the Renegades, their season is all but over.

Marantelli Bet pays a long $26 for them to win the title as they sit firmly in last place and only a mathematical chance of making the top four with two games to go.

Next up, they face the Hurricanes on Tuesday, where they are $2.10 underdogs at BetOnline to win.

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