Over ten thousand fans packed into Canberra’s Manuka Oval last night to watch a close encounter between the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder which went right down to the last ball in the Big Bash T20 competition.

Set a total of 183 to chase, the Stars were well in the game before captain Marcus Stoinis and key man Glenn Maxwell holed out in quick succession, leaving the impressive Thunder quicks to mop up the middle order and set them up for an eventual 18 run victory.

Fans got full value for their tickets, with all 40 overs being bowled. Stars wicket keeper Sam Billings took man of the match honours for his impressive 72 off just 39 balls, impressively rotating the strike and testing the fielders with well placed boundaries which raced across the fast Manuka outfield.

At one stage a ball was even lost outside the ground on the eastern side after a massive Billings six, evoking memories of Sanath Jayasuriya’s prodigious hitting during the 2008 One Day International between Sri Lanka and India also played at the ground.

The match featured eight Australian international cricketers in David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Joel Paris, Chris Green, Daniel Sams and Hilton Cartwright, plus New Zealand international Lockie Ferguson, England internationals Sam Billings and Ben Duckett and Pakistan international Usama Mir – for a total of 12 overall.

Credit must go to both Cricket ACT and the ACT government for their investment in the sport to bring players of this calibre to the nation’s capital and the ongoing improvements to Manuka Oval have put Canberra on the map as a cricket city as a result.