ADELAIDE, Australia, CMC-A late salvo from Kieron Pollard was not enough to rescue the Adelaide Strikers who lost a crucial match by eight runs to the Melbourne stars in the Australian T20 Big Bash League yesterday.
Pollard emerged from a quiet innings to hasten a slow run chase with an undefeated 65 that pushed the strikers to 167 for 4 after the stars posted a challenging target of 175 for 8 at the Adelaide Oval.
He took a while to get going and by the time he hit his stride in the last two overs, it was too late to pull things back for Adelaide who slipped down one place to third in the table following the defeat.
The big hitting Trinidadian scored just 27 runs from 30 balls when the 18th over began but was able to put his side within reach, with 27 runs required from six balls.
Pollard hit two sixes and a four in the final over, after being kept under control by the Stars bowlers, the pick of whom was James Faulkner with 2 for 32.
His two sixes in the last three balls were in excess of 100 metres as his team fell eight runs short despite his 65 not out.
Earlier, Brad Hodge smashed a match-winning 88 from 58 balls as the Melbourne Stars moved up to second in the Big Bash league after recording their fourth straight victory.
The Strikers’ next assignment is against the only unbeaten team of the tournament – the Melbourne Renegades on January 2nd.