Twitter reacts to Maxwell’s stellar all-round show as Stars dominate the Melbourne Derby

01/02/2024

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The atmosphere in the iconic MCG was grim when dark clouds loomed over the venue, compelling it to a 14-over per-side contest. Glenn Maxwell’s all-round heroics coupled with disciplined bowling and Thomas Rogers’ gritty knock helped the Stars seal the Melbourne Derby with two overs to spare.

After a rain delayed start, Glenn Maxwell opted to field first only to witness the new ball get spanked by the Melbourne Renegades openers within the powerplay before Imad Wasim applied the brakes, drawing the first blood in the cusp of reduced three-over powerplay. Quinton de Kock seemed in a good touch but his 16-ball 23 runs knock came to an end when Glenn Maxwell outwitted him on the first ball of the sixth over. With 45 runs on the board, the Gades’ batters went hard on every other ball and cost their wickets as the game progressed. Despite wickets falling in clusters, the visitors ended up reaching 97 runs in the reduced quota of 14 overs while Dan Lawrence and Maxwell stood apart with figures of 2-0-8-2 and 3-0-8-1 for the Melbourne Stars.

In pursuit of a tricky chase, the home side got off to a watchful start but lost Dan Lawrence inside the powerplay. Thomas Rogers hung in at one end and tried to graft the chase while the tourists bowled in tight areas and did not let runs come with ease. Eventually, this built the pressure and Beau Webster, the Stars’ no. 3 was forced to play a false stroke and see the way back to the pavilion in the eighth over. Subsequently, Maxwell entered the fray and started to play his natural game. While Rogers switched gears, the all-rounder joined him and smoked a four and two big sixes against Adam Zampa in the 11th over to bring the equation less than run-a-ball. Eventually, it was just a matter of time before the Stars triumph the Melbourne Derby, securing their fourth consecutive win after initiating the tournament with a hat-trick of loss.

The Twitterverse closely followed this epic BBL rivalry and here's what they expressed:

Cooking

Maxwell cooking
— TÕTALKÕHLÌ𓃵 (@LoyalKohliFan17)

Ivention of new shot

Glenn Maxwell inventing new shots in cricket.

- The Mad Maxi. 💪💥
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)

Four in a a row

STARS WIN!!!! 💚

That's four in a row.
— Melbourne Stars (@StarsBBL)

The chief

The Chief 🫡

Great catch off Sidds’ bowling, blokes in green are 2-53 off seven chasing 98 from 14 overs.
— Melbourne Renegades (@RenegadesBBL)

Lol

Proposal at BBL requires hard drive checks for all involved
— Hendo (@Hendiggity1)

What a shot

What a shot from Maxwell 😧😳😍
— Babar Azam Fans (@BabarAzam415705)

Power shot

Straight hit by Rogers with power
— Muhammad Adnan (@Muhammadnan88)

Lets see

So sweet. I hope their marriage can survive their immense BBL rivalry
— Laura (@internetzlaura)

Lacks charisma

Look at the teams during BBL 5, there's not as many stars as you'd think. There's just a lack of charismatic Windies players at the moment, and they are who we think of as the biggest stars even if they don't perform.
— zamps v1 🐦 (@zampaa69)

Words

Commentators saying not many runs off Zampa is putting pressure on Stars. Nah. It’s clear the game plan is to see off their best bowler as they can afford to.
— Jon Tuxworth (@Tuxy81)

Congrats