Glenn Maxwell act backfires as Sydney Thunder knock Melbourne Stars out of BBL finals
The Melbourne Stars veteran was full of confidence early in the BBL finals game.
Glenn Maxwell might be regretting some of his actions in the Melbourne Stars' loss to the Sydney Thunder on Wednesday night after the Stars' fairytale BBL run came to a crashing halt. Maxwell led the Stars to an unlikely finals berth after four-straight wins got them into the top-four.
But the Thunder ended their campaign on Wednesday night with a 21-run victory at ENGIE Stadium. Maxwell was spotted shushing Sydney Thunder fans in the crowd after taking a catch to dismiss Matthew Gilkies early in the match.
It left the Thunder 3-52 while batting first, and Maxwell was clearly feeling confident. The Aussie cricket star was obviously responding to something said by a fan when he turned around and told them to shut it. But it backfired spectacularly when the Stars were bowled out for 114 while chasing 135.
Maxwell didn't exactly back it up with the bat, even though he top-scored for the Stars on a tricky pitch. He made 28 off 21 balls before lobbing an easy catch straight back to bowler Tanveer Sangha.
The dismissal ended the Stars' hope of chasing down the Thunder's total and advancing to the 'Challenger' on Friday night. "We were just trying to get Maxi out, I think that's how we were going to win the game," Sangha said afterwards.
Glenn Maxwell is OUT.
Tanveer Sangha does the damage in a HUGE wicket for the Thunder. #BBL14 pic.twitter.com/l9dA7hUV4g— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 22, 2025
Nathan McAndrew played the hero for the Sydney side, taking 5-16 to record the best figures by a Thunder player in BBL history. McAndrew snared both Stars openers in the powerplay before dispatching Mark Steketee for 18 as the paceman provided late resistance.
"It was a nice one (pitch) to bowl on tonight," McAndrew said. "I just turn myself into a spinner, to be honest, once the batters are going, I just start bowling a lot of hard off-cutters, basically just fast off-spin. I've been able to find a bit of a blueprint bowling here over the years and just stick to a pretty simple plan."
Sydney Thunder confident of taking down Sydney Sixers
It means the Thunder will play the Sydney Sixers for the first time in a final in 14 seasons of the BBL. The Sydney rivals will play on Friday night for a place in the final against the Hobart Hurricanes (on Monday night).
And Sangha reckons the Sixers are "vulnerable" and "scared to face" the Thunder without big guns like Steve Smith and James Vince. The Sixers have historically had the better of the Thunder in the BBL, winning nine of their previous 11 matches.
But their only other meeting this year came down to the last ball, giving the Thunder plenty of belief. Crucially, the Sixers won't have Smith, Sean Abbott and Todd Murphy due to Test commitments in Sri Lanka, or England international Vince (who has already departed).
"Knowing that their big dogs aren't there, there's no-one really scoring runs for them. I think we can put them under a lot of pressure," Sangha said. "We're never in the Sixers' shadow. I think they're always scared to face us."
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The Thunder won't have Sam Konstas, but they showed on Wednesday night it might not matter. The Sixers are coming off a loss to the Hurricanes in the grand final qualifier.
"We saw in the Hurricanes game they (the Sixers) played down in Hobart, I think early wickets can really damage them," Sangha said. "If we can try and do the same thing, get early wickets, put pressure on them, I think they can be vulnerable."
with AAP