Sakib al Hasan’s Adelaide Strikers fell to a crushing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of the Melbourne Stars in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League, on Thursday.
Sakib’s second outing for the Strikers on Thursday did not match his excellent BBL debut on Saturday, as the Bangladeshi all-rounder scored just two runs off eight balls and conceded 10 runs in his only over in Melbourne.
The Strikers elected to bat first at the MCG but managed to put just 90-9 on the board despite 42 runs from opener Michael Klinger. James Faulkner led the Melbourne attack with three wickets for nine runs in his four overs, while Lasith Malinga took 2-8 in his four-over spell.
The Stars wasted no time chasing the total down, reaching 91-2 with 75 balls to spare. Opener Luke Wright scored 49 off 20 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, to lead the charge. Glenn Maxwell added 25 from 10 deliveries to see Melbourne home.
Michael Neser took two wickets, dismissing both the openers with his first two deliveries, but conceded 21 runs in his 1.3 overs.
Adelaide have now lost both matches since Sakib joined the side to replace their injured captain Johan Botha, but they remain fourth in the eight-team table with five points from five matches.
-With New Age input
