Maxwell, spinners extend Stars' winning streak

A fabulous all-round show from Glenn Maxwell (1-8 and 32* off 15) and an excellent effort from Melbourne Stars' spinners in general took them to their fourth straight win of the season - courtesy a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Melbourne Renegades at the MCG on Tuesday (January 2).

In a game reduced to 14-overs-a-side due to rain, the Renegades could only muster a meagre total of 97 and Maxwell got the job done alongside Thomas Rogers (46* off 34) with 11 balls to spare.

Put into bat, the Renegades did get off to a flying start with Quinton de Kock finding his mojo in the three-over powerplay. The score raced to 33 in those three overs but the third over, the first by a spinner, gave instant signs that the track would be difficult to score when pace was taken off. Imad Wasim cleverly set the tone in that over by taking out Jordan Cox and skipper Maxwell brought himself on as the dosage of spin increased considerably.

The innings nosedived in sensational fashion thereafter with wickets falling clumps. Renegades' new-found star in Jake Fraser-McGuirk had a nightmarish outing, meandering to a 19-ball 14 and given that he has been the enforcer of late, it was a huge blow for the Gades. Maxwell was the pick of the bowlers in his three-over burst apart from Imad while the part-time spin of Daniel Lawrence also worked a treat for the home side. The Stars spinners bowled eight of the 14 overs and returned cumulative figures of 4/38.

Despite the two-paced nature of the track, the total was at least 15-20 runs short of a competitive score. While Lawrence and Webster couldn't find their tempo today, Rogers and Maxwell ensured that there were no hiccups for the Stars as they kept the juggernaut rolling.

Brief scores: Melbourne Renegades 97/7 in 14 overs (Quinton de Kock 23; Daniel Lawrence 2-8, Glenn Maxwell 1-8) lost to Melbourne Stars 101/2 in 12.1 overs (Thomas Rogers 46*, Glenn Maxwell 32*) by eight wickets.