Though Melbourne Stars are out of the Finals race of the Big Bash League 2021-22, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis made sure that there was no lack of entertainment as fours and sixes rained at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, much to the relief of the battered Stars’ fans.
Thanks to a belligerent 154 off just 64 balls by Glenn Maxwell, the Stars were able to reach 273-2, the highest team total by a huge margin in the BBL history so far. The previous highest team total was 232 by Sydney Thunder which was achieved against Sydney Sixers in Adelaide last season.
This is also the highest total in franchise or domestic T20 cricket ever as it beat Trinabago Knight Riders' 267-2 which was achieved against Jamaica Tallawahs in Caribbean Premier League 2019. Overall, the 273 by Stars is the third-highest T20 total after Afghanistan’s 278-3 against Ireland in 2019 and Czech Republic’s 278-4 against Turkey also in 2019.
The unbeaten 154 by Maxwell is also the highest individual score by a batter in BBL history. He overtook his own teammate Marcus Stoinis on the list. Stonis, who also scored a brilliant 75* off just 31 balls in tonight’s game, had scored 147* against Sydney Sixers in 2020.
In terms of the overall highest individual score in all T20s, this knock by Maxwell, in which he hit a record 22 fours and fours sixes, ranks at the ninth spot. However, 22 fours is the highest number of fours hit by any batter in any T20 game ever in history.
Also, the total 29 fours hit by the Stars in this innings is the highest for a BBL game in history as well. Hurricanes had won the toss and decided to bowl first in this game, a decision that they would now be thinking very hard about.
In reply to the Stars, the Hurricanes were 67-3 in the eighth over at the time of publishing this copy.