Man of the Match Andre Russell came to the rescue of the Melbourne Stars when he scored 42 from just 21 balls to spur his side to a six-wicket victory over the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 152, the Stars were in a spot of trouble on 83-4 after losing the wickets of opener Marcus Stoinis for 31 and Captain Glen Maxwell to consecutive deliveries from Tanveer Sangha (2-20).
The powerfully built Jamaican successfully navigated Sangha’s hat-trick ball and then set about smashing a four and five sixes to guide his side to victory with 17 balls to spare.
Russell didn’t do it all by himself, though, as Hilton Cartwright contributed to the rearguard effort with 23 from just 13 balls as the Stars raced to 155-4. Together, he and Russell posted 72 from just 34 balls that saw the Stars pick up four valuable points.
In leading his side to victory, Russell also made up for the 38 runs he conceded from his four overs as the Thunder made 151-5.
Led by some lower-order hitting from Alex Ross who cleared the boundary on four occasions and hit the ropes another four times in his score of 77 that rescued the Thunder after Qais Ahmed (2-17), Brody Couch (2-26) and Maxwell (1-7) had reduced the Thunder to 65-4 by the 12th over.
Ross and Daniel Sams, the latter playing his part in the recovery scoring 22 from 18 balls, put on 84 from 48 balls before Sams was dismissed on the penultimate ball of the innings.