Dwarshuis, Davies help Sixers down Stars

Ben Dwarshuis picked up four wickets as Sydney Sixers restricted Melbourne Stars to 128 before chasing down the target with five wickets and 17 balls to spare at the MCG on Thursday.

Put in to bat, the Stars struggled throughout their innings. Joel Davies and Jack Edwards picked up two and three wickets respectively to keep the scoring in check. Marcus Stoinis top-scored with 33 off 35 balls while Blake Macdonald made 33 off 22 lower down the order, but no other batter crossed 15.

Dwarshuis was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 4 for 13 in 3.5 overs. He bowled a double-wicket maiden in the 18th over, dismissing Stoinis and Haris Rauf off consecutive balls. He nearly became the first Sixers men's player to claim a hat-trick but Liam Hatcher survived the next delivery.

The dominant performance with the ball meant the chase was somewhat straightforward for the Sixers even with the ball doing a bit. Josh Philippe made 35 off 25 balls at the top before falling to Stoinis, who also picked up the wicket of Babar Azam to finish with 2 for 21. Lachlan Shaw remained unbeaten on 24 off 14 balls and Jordan Silk contributed 18 not out off 20 as the visitors reached 129 for 4 in 17.1 overs.

The win was the Sixers' third in a row, taking them to four wins in seven matches. They are level on eight points with the Stars and Perth Scorchers and are set to be boosted by the availability of Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith and Todd Murphy for the latter stages of the tournament. Meanhile, the Stars, who began the season with four wins on the bounce, have now lost three matches on the trot. They face local rivals Melbourne Renegades on Saturday while the Sixers host Hobart on Sunday.

Brief scores: Melbourne Stars 128 in 19.5 overs (Marcus Stoinis 33, Blake Macdonald 33; Ben Dwarshuis 4-13, Jack Edwards 3-27, Joel Davies 2-15) lost to Sydney Sixers 129/4 in 17.1 overs (Josh Philippe 35, Lachlan Shaw 24*; Marcus Stoinis 2-21) by six wickets.