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Nathan Coulter-Nile took career-best figures of 4-10 as the Melbourne Stars demolished the Brisbane Heat by six wickets in the Big Bash League.
Nathan Coulter-Nile has had the best night of his BBL career, taking four wickets to help the Melbourne Stars beat the Brisbane Heat by six wickets in Canberra.
Coulter-Nile took career-best Twenty20 figures of 4-10 to help have Brisbane all out for 125, before Glenn Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright guided the Stars home with 17 balls to spare.
But it wasn't as easy as it looked, as early wickets from Heat debutants Xavier Bartlett (1-28) and Jack Wood (2-28) had last season's finalists slumping to 3-34 after 6.1 overs.
From there Maxwell and Cartwright steadied the ship, claiming the bonus-point for leading at the 10-over mark on the way to a win.
Maxwell in particular hit the accelerator with 46 off 26 balls, smashing legspinner Wood for three sixes over the legside before being bowled trying to reverse hit him.
Coulter-Nile was still the hero, adding two run outs off his own bowling to go with his wickets.
The allrounder claimed the key scalp of Chris Lynn for 20, who played within himself for the most part with the exception of a six off Adam Zampa over square leg.
Coulter-Nile also removed hard-hitting opener Max Bryant, caught behind to a good low catch from Ben Dunk.
His last two wickets came late, removing Jimmy Peirson (18) and Matt Kuhnemann (0), and running out Wood and Bartlett at the non-strikers' end.
"Stats wise it was my best, but I didn't think I bowled that well," Coulter-Nile said.
"The wicket helped and the boys taking wickets around and before me.
"It's just one of those things, sometimes in T20 you feel like you bowl fantastic and take none and vice versa."
Pakistan quick Dilbar Hussain finished with 2-25 for Melbourne, and was at one stage on a hat-trick only for it to be blocked out by Peirson.
Cartwright left a high watermark for run out of the tournament, removing Englishman Dan Lawrence (8) with a direct hit from deep midwicket.
Meanwhile, Brisbane were left to rue their tentativeness at times in a team that has already been written off by critics.
Tom Cooper (26) was their only player to pass 20 with the bat.
"We have to find a happy medium between playing our reckless cricket and timid cricket," Lynn said.
"We have to actually go out there and play the game and enjoy it. We were behind the eight ball and reactive."
