BBL heavyweights the Melbourne Stars faced two major setbacks on Tuesday after paceman Lasith Malinga was recalled by Sri Lanka’s board and Rob Quiney injured his shoulder.
However the first-placed Stars (12 points) were able to battle on strongly at the MCG, restricting the fifth-placed Hobart Hurricanes (five points) to a total of 9-131 after the home side chose to bowl first.
John Hastings led the way with 2-15 off four overs while Scott Boland and Marcus Stoinis also claimed two wickets each.
The Stars were jubilant after spinner David Hussey (1-19 off four overs) broke through with the first ball of the match, removing Tim Paine caught at backward point.
Jon Wells made 19 and Shoaib Malik was unfortunate to be run out at the bowler’s end without facing a delivery at 3-41.
Travis Birt (31) and Ben Dunk (30) added 43 for the fourth wicket before falling in consecutive balls to Stoinis.
Birt was caught at backward square leg and Dunk cracked a cut shot to backward point where Luke Wright fumbled a sharp chance and regathered it off his chest in spectacular style.
Dimi Mascarenhas (eight), Ben Laughlin (one), Ben Hilfenhaus (duck) and Cameron Boyce (eight) fell cheaply while Aiden Blizzard was unbeaten on 28 off 24 balls.
The Stars went into battle on Tuesday night without Malinga, who has been sent home to work on his fitness ahead of next month’s ODI and World T20 series in Bangladesh.
An extremely disappointed Melbourne Stars chief executive Clint Cooper said the title favourites hoped to regain Malinga for the semi-finals on February 4 and 5.
“However at the same time, we are exploring alternative options to fill the void with other overseas players,” Cooper said.
The Stars have already lost James Faulkner, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade to Australian duties for the one-day series against England.
Opening bowler Jackson Bird and allrounder Faulkner are set to miss next month’s BBL finals series after being named this week in Australia’s Test squad for the series in South Africa.
Bird took 1-33 against the Hurricanes.
Former Test opener Quiney walked off gingerly clutching his right shoulder after landing heavily while attempting an outfield catch during the fourth over of the Hurricanes’ innings.
Quiney is expected to bat against Hobart.
