melbourne, Dec 26
Melbourne Stars overcame a controversial Moises Henriques catch to shock Sydney Sixers and claim their first win of the BBL season.
Chasing 155 for victory against the previously undefeated Sixers, Stars hauled in the target with three balls to spare to claim the four-wicket win.
But they were forced to do it the hard way after cricket’s controversial clean catch rule reared its ugly head early in the chase.
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With Stars 28 without loss after four overs, Tom Rogers was given out for 20 when Henriques leapt high into the air and grabbed the ball one handed.
Replays, however, showed the ball was planted onto the ground as Henriques landed, hurting his left shoulder in the process.
Cricket’s laws state a catch cannot be claimed until the fielder has full control of his body and therefore the ball cannot touch the ground in that time.
The catch was similar to the one Mitchell Starc was denied during the Lord’s Test this year to remove Ben Duckett, when he slid with the ball on the ground.
Former Sixers marquee player Brett Lee admitted in Fox Cricket’s commentary the ball “clearly” touched the surface and was not out according to the rule book.
“I actually think it’s out,” Rogers said after the game. “Moises controlled it and took it beautifully, but I suppose it’s just a grey area with what’s happened in the other game with Mitch Starc’s one.
“It’s obviously a hard one to be on the rough side of it, but at the end of the day I’ve hit a bad shot and he has taken a nice catch so it probably is out.”
Still, Rogers was forced to walk off after third-umpire Claire Polosak viewed several replays and did not change the on-field soft signal of out. Unlike in international cricket, where the soft signal no longer plays a role, it remains in Australian domestic cricket including the BBL. “As I was looking through the vision, I did not have conclusive evidence to say that there was no fingers under the ball,” Polosak told Seven. Still, Stars were able to recover after an initial stumble. Rogers’ dismissal prompted a minor collapse of 4 for 38, including that of Glenn Maxwell’s dismissal for 12 one ball after he launched Jackson Bird deep over the square-leg boundary.
But Beau Webster and Hilton Cartwright were then able to stabilise the innings, putting on a 56-run stand and getting the margin down to 34 from 22 balls.
And while Webster was caught at long on for 35 trying to take down Sean Abbott, Cartwright was able to get Stars home with an unbeaten 47.
Earlier, Pakistani spinner Usama Mir had helped set up the win with 3 for 19 off four overs early in the innings.
His wickets included Henriques when he deceived the Sixers captain and had him stumped, before a quicker ball drew Jordan Silk’s edge later in the over.
James Vince was able to steady the ship for Sixers, getting through a difficult opening 10 overs before taking charge in the second half of the innings to finish with 83 from 55 balls.
But when he was run out by a Maxwell direct hit, Stars were able to keep the Sixers to 14 runs from a crucial final two overs of the innings.
