Melbourne Stars captain Marcus Stoinis made headlines after being involved in a heated exchange with Sydney Sixers opener Babar Azam during the Big Bash League (BBL) 15 Match 27 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Batting first, the Stars managed to post only 128 runs on the board. They did an early breakthrough in target defence as the Sixers lost their captain, Moises Henriques (12 off 7 balls), on 20 at 2.1 overs. In an attempt to put the batters under more pressure, Marcus Stoinis began to sledge Babar Azam, who is currently going through a lean patch. Fielding a ball stopped close to the stump and exchanged some words with the Pakistan player during the third over, bowled by Peter Siddle.
But the drama unfolded when Stoinis gave a fiery send-off to Babar after dismissing him. The Sixers were in a strong position at 48/1 after 6.3 overs, when Stoinis delivered a fuller length, inswinging delivery that hit Babar’s pads and was given out LBW by the on-field umpire.
Soon after the umpire raised his finger, Stoinis said, “See you later, Babar! See you later, brother!”
The batter considered using the Decision Review System (DRS) and had a brief chat with non non-striker before taking the long walk back to the pavilion. It proved to be the right decision, as the replays later confirmed the ball would have hit the leg stump. Babar managed just 14 off 17 balls at a poor strike rate of 82.45.
The confrontation quickly gained attention from social media fans. After the match, Stoinis joked about the mics being on, hinting he had spoken to Azam before taking his wicket.
Stoinis finished with figures of 2 wickets for 20 runs in 4 overs. This exchange put a spotlight on Azam’s difficulties in the BBL, even though he has scored 145 runs in seven games at an average of 24.16, with two half-centuries.
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The Sydney Sixers went on to win comfortably by six wickets in 17.1 overs. Josh Philippe led their chase with 35 runs off 25 balls, including two fours and two sixes, supported by Lachlan Shaw’s unbeaten 24 off 14 balls.
The Stars, on the other hand, were bowled to 128 all out. Stoinis was their highest scorer with 33 runs from 35 balls, and Blake Macdonald also made 33 from 22 balls. Ben Dwarshuis was the pick of the bowlers, with four wickets.
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