Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic attended the 32nd match of the Big Bash League 2024-25 between Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades. The match was played at Docklands Stadium, Melbourne.
Djokovic enjoyed the game that had plenty of fours and sixes. However, he was left shellshocked when the Stars allrounder Marcus Stoinis almost hit the roof of the stadium. During the eighth over of the game, Tom Rogers bowled a length ball right in the slot outside off stump.
Marcus Stoinis saw the opportunity and lined up to smash the ball out of the park with all his power. However, the ball only got the height and not the elevation. It went miles in the air before settling into the hands of Kane Richardson at long-on right at the edge of the boundary.
The ball almost touched the roof and Marcus Stoinis just couldn’t believe that he was caught in the deep. Even Novak Djokovic, who was in attendance for this match, couldn’t believe how Stoinis was dismissed and was left shellshocked.
Watch: Glenn Maxwell stuns cricket world with record-breaking 122m six and hat-trick of maximums in BBL
Watch: Novak Djokovic left shellshocked after Marcus Stoinis nearly hits the roof
Even @DjokerNole couldn’t believe this!
Marcus Stoinis gets caught after hitting a high ball, and Novak Djokovic reacts accordingly! #BBL14 pic.twitter.com/7eaGv3xLza
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 12, 2025
It was a reaction to savor from the tennis legend Novak Djokovic. It is to be noted that Novak Djokovic is currently in Melbourne to take part in the year’s first grand slam Australian Open. He last won the Australian Open in 2023 but was defeated in the semi-finals in the last year.
Glenn Maxwell powers Melbourne Stars to good total with a historic knock
Meanwhile, Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to field first on their home ground. They had a perfect start as they removed the wicketkeeper Sam Harper early. Renegades picked up two more wickets in quick succession which also included the big wicket of Ben Duckett.
Stars were further reduced to 75-7 and it seemed like their innings would fold up quickly. Skipper Marcus Stoinis was dismissed for a quickfire 18 off 10 balls with 1 fours and 2 sixes. However, Glenn Maxwell had other ideas. The swashbuckling right-hander showed that he has still got it and played a blinder under pressure.
He had Usama Mir as his batting partner but kept the strike consistently to move the innings along. Maxwell scored a magnificent 90 off just 52 deliveries with 4 fours and 10 sixes to take his team to 165. He truly entertained the crowd by playing one of the most memorable knocks in the tournament’s history.
Melbourne Renegades fall well short
In reply, Melbourne Renegades too had a poor start and lost early wickets. Fast bowlers Mark Steketee and Joel Paris wreaked havoc in Renegades batting line-up and reduced them to 44-4. A brief partnership followed between Tim Seifert and Will Sutherland but the latter’s wicket started another collapse.
Renegades kept losing wickets from that point and were finally shot out for 123 with just one ball remaining. Left-arm seamer Joel Paris finished with 3-13 in four overs while Mark Steketee finished with 5-17 in his spell.