Stars totally eclipsed in cosmic scale choke
MELBOURNE is red and so is the face of every Star.
Yesterday’s grand final choke by the green team was as large as the famous faces which have been plastered over the club.
From Shane Warne to Viv Richards to Kevin Pietersen to Michael Clarke and led by president Eddie McGuire the Stars have always tried to be the biggest dog in the Big Bash.
But after eight seasons only the Stars and Hobart Hurricanes are left without a trophy.
Renegades coach Andrew McDonald and captain Aaron Finch have compiled the nearperfect T20 campaign.
They lost Finch and Marcus Harris for the first half of the season and Afghan star Mohammad Nabi for the finals, yet they never lost their way.
They are a team of bit-players, evidenced by posting just three half-centuries for the summer.
Stars captain Glenn Maxwell seemed certain to break the Stars’ duck in his 50th game for the club before the unthinkable happened.
Set just 146 to win on a friendly pitch the Stars were cruising at 0/93 after just 77 balls at Marvel Stadium, where they had won their past six games.
It was the equivalent of Collingwood’s five-goal lead in last year’s AFL grand final.
Unfortunately for dual president McGuire, both crashed to dramatic defeats.
The wicket of opener Marcus Stoinis was converted into 2/1 and then 3/6 and then 4/6 and then 5/15 and then 6/15 and then 7/19.
Yes, 7/19 against a world-class batting line-up. What on earth?
Renegades hero Dan Christian said after Friday night’s semi-final they had often relied on “pulling a rabbit out of the hat” with the bat this season.
But Finch pulled a colony of rabbits out of his red cap with the ball yesterday as the Stars winked out at the hands of his attack. Simply, it was an array of terrible shots as a championship was lost in 20 minutes of madcap cricket.
It was as if the Stars decided it was time for catching practice. Their miserable history reads like this. Eight BBL seasons, seven semi-final finishes, two grand finals and zero championships.
Meanwhile, Maxwell flies to India today and is set to be a critical lieutenant for Finch in this year’s World Cup.