Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell reacts angrily to an on-field decision during the Big Bash League 2025-26 match between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder in Canberra. Maxwell criticized the third umpire after the decision against his team, saying that the fielder had clearly saved the ball from the boundary line.
After winning the toss, the Stars elected to bowl first at the Manuka Oval on Sunday, 28 December. Thunder’s opening batsmen Matthew Gilkes and Sam Konstas added 33 runs in just four overs. However, after the fall of the first wicket, Thunder struggled to build partnerships and wickets kept falling at regular intervals.
Controversial boundary call sparks Glenn Maxwell’s animated reaction
A controversial boundary decision came at the end of Sydney Thunder’s innings and soon became a topic of discussion. On the last ball of the 16th over, Shadab Khan pulled a short-of-length delivery towards deep mid-wicket.
Hilton Cartwright ran to his left and attempted to slide near the ropes, trying to push the ball back into play. Although the effort was impressive, his pace carried him to the boundary cushion, with the ball appearing to hit him close to his feet.
The decision was referred to the TV umpire, who ruled that Cartwright was in contact with both the ball and the boundary rope at the same time. Four runs were given away despite a strong fielding effort. The call brought an animated reaction from Glenn Maxwell, who described it as “shocking”.
He did really well, I was right next to him – Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell expressed disappointment after the boundary decision went against his team. Maxwell said he had a clear view of the incident and thought replays made it look worse than it actually was. He described the decision as “shocking”, saying that the ball never touched the player’s foot.
“To move your body out of the way and avoid touching him, because all you want to do is push him back in when you see him dripping. Now he’s out of the way,” Maxwell said.
“But I had a pretty good view of it. Oh, of course they’re going to give it up. Oh my God. It’s a terrible decision. It’s a shocker. Unfortunately for them, they did really well. I was right next to them.”
“Nowhere near his foot. The camera makes it look bad, but he did good by staying away from it. Oh okay. Get two extras.”
“Terrible decision. It’s shocking.”
Glenn Maxwell was not happy that it was called a boundary #bbl15 pic.twitter.com/ztbkY2fydg
– 7cricket (@7cricket) 28 December 2025
Haris Rauf leads Stars’ bowling effort against Thunder
Haris Rauf continued his impressive run in the tournament with a strong bowling performance. The right-arm fast bowler took 3 wickets for 29 runs in his four overs and kept the pressure on Sydney Thunder throughout his spell.
Rauf dismissed Sam Billings in the 14th over and then had a unique celebration. His three wickets played a major role in restricting Sydney Thunder to a modest score of 128 runs at the end of 20 overs.
Tom Curran, captain Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Swepson took two wickets each, while Peter Siddle got one wicket.
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