Melbourne Stars 159 for 2 (Stoinis 62*, Kellaway 41, Hossain 2-33) beat Hobart Hurricanes 158 for 9 (McDermott 69, Siddle 3-30, Stoinis 2-18) by eight wickets

Siddle’s 3 for 30 helped restrict the Hurricanes to an underwhelming 158 for 9, after Stars captain Marcus Stoinis elected to bowl first at the MCG.

The Stars then coasted to victory, reaching 159 for 2 with 24 balls to spare. Stoinis (62* from 31 balls) and Campbell Kellaway (41* off 27) handled the chase with ease, as the skipper ended the match with a six.

Stoinis was Player of the Match for his brutal knock and 2 for 18.

The only BBL franchise yet to claim a title after the Hurricanes’ success last summer, the Stars couldn’t have started this campaign any better.

Veteran matchwinner Glenn Maxwell opened the bowling, with his gentle offspin working wonders as he dismissed the dangerous Mitch Owen with the fourth ball of the game. Owen, who smashed a memorable century in last season’s final, holed out on the boundary to Hilton Cartwright, who had dropped a catch off the previous delivery.

That dismissal started the rot for the Hurricanes, with Siddle and fellow paceman Haris Rauf cleaning up the tail with 4 for 6 in the final eight balls of the innings.

First playing domestic cricket back in 2005, Siddle committed to the Stars again this season after bagging 12 wickets in the 2024-25 campaign. The evergreen 67-Test veteran, who retired from international cricket in 2019, ended his Victorian career last summer, but has kept fit for another BBL tilt. Siddle played in a 10-over league in Canada in October, before fronting up for the PM’s XI against England in Canberra last month.

” I just love competing and I don’t want to put out poor performances,” Siddle said. “I’ve worked hard to prepare for this. I was a bit nervous, it’s been a long time since I played a proper competitive game so it was good to get it out of the way. The stuff I was doing with my strength and conditioning trainer, who works for the Vics, was very individualised stuff because I only have to train to bowl four overs.”

Ben McDermott played a lone hand for the Hurricanes, crafting a well-made 69 after arriving at the crease in the second over. Combining with Tim David, McDermott threatened to push Hobart to a competitive score. But David lost his wicket to Siddle in the powerplay, sparking the Hurricanes’ collapse.

Maxwell, arguably the world’s best outfielder, pulled off another stunning catch when he helped dismiss former Australia teammate Matthew Wade. The Stars’ master blaster was able to jump over the boundary rope and then throw the ball back to himself, making the difficult effort look extremely easy.

Hobart are back in action on Sunday against the Melbourne Renegades in Geelong, while the Stars face the Strikers in Adelaide next Tuesday night.

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