The match in a tweet: Stars too strong for undermanned Heat! Last year's finalists flex their muscles as a young Brisbane side fall flat in their season opener.
The Score: Brisbane Heat 125 (Cooper 26, Coulter-Nile 4-10) lost to Melbourne Stars 4-129 (Cartwright 46no, Maxwell 46) by six wickets with 17 balls to spare
The Hero: Widely regarded as one of the best fielders in Australia, Hilton Cartwright made two telling contributions in the field and then played a crucial role with the bat to guide to Stars to victory. At a pivotal point of the Heat's innings, Cartwright produced an athletic run, gather and throw from his position on the mid-wicket boundary, his bullet arm from just inside the fielding circle hitting the stumps to find Dan Lawrence short of his ground. And when Simon Milenko launched his first delivery high into the night sky, the Stars would have been relieved it was Cartwright under it, the allrounder running back towards the rope and taking a great catch. He then played a steadying role with the bat after the loss of some early wickets, finishing with an unbeaten 46 from 42 balls.
The Supporting Cast: Nathan Coulter-Nile returned career-best T20 figures of 4-10 for the Stars, the reward for a highly-impressive performance in the field from last year's finalists. Skipper Glenn Maxwell used seven different bowlers, rotating them frequently as the Heat struggled to get any momentum during their innings. Coulter-Nile picked up two run outs to go with his four wickets, including the key scalp of Heat skipper Chris Lynn, while Adam Zampa's spell of 0-24 from four overs and Maxwell's own effort to concede just nine runs from two overs in the Powerplay also proved telling.
The Entertainer: Coming off some red-hot form for Australia, Maxwell continued his dream start to the summer with an entertaining and ultimately match-sealing innings for the Stars. Coming to the crease with his side in trouble at 3-34, Maxwell accelerated at just the right times in his innings as he and Cartwright put together a crucial 75-run stand to secure the win. Maxwell hit the boundary on three occasions and went over it three times as well, and he once again looks primed for a massive BBL campaign.
The Consolation Act: It was a night to remember for debutant Jack Wood, who picked up a wicket with his very first ball in Big Bash cricket. Named last week as a replacement player for Mitchell Swepson, Wood clattered into the stumps as he unsuccessfully tried to make his ground during his brief innings with the bat, but the left-arm wrist spinner made an instant impact with the ball by having Ben Dunk caught at long on from his first ball. He then added the wicket of Maxwell late in the game to finish with figures of 2-28 from three overs.
The Spiceman: Of all the new imports in the BBL this season, none seem as well suited to the BBL as Andre Fletcher. The West Indian's dance moves made waves on social media during the week but his first on-field contributions were ones to forget, dropping a high ball early on and then seeing his first delivery in the competition – a rank long hop – smashed over the rope for six. But after a slow start with the bat, he gave a small sample of what could be to come from his blade this summer, a towering six struck so sweetly that he didn't even need to watch it sail over the boundary.
The Next Stop: The Stars have less than 24 hours to celebrate their win before they take on the Sydney Thunder on Saturday afternoon, while the Heat have a few days to ponder what went wrong before they face the Thunder on Monday night.
Melbourne Stars XI: Marcus Stoinis, Andre Fletcher, Hilton Cartwright, Glenn Maxwell (c), Nick Larkin, Ben Dunk (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Clinton Hinchliffe, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Dilbar Hussain
Brisbane Heat XI: Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Chris Lynn (c), Dan Lawrence, Tom Cooper, James Peirson (wk), Simon Milenko, Jack Wood, Xavier Bartlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, Ben Laughlin
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