Mr Fixit Jon Wells dug the Adelaide Strikers out of a spin-induced hole and steered them to 4-162 against the top-ranked Melbourne Stars at Adelaide Oval.
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Wells (55no) and Matt Short (23no) smoked 68 unbroken for the fifth wicket for the third-placed Strikers who crunched 105 from their last 10 overs in Wednesday's BBL blockbuster after they had been floundering at 3-57 from the first 10.
Spearheaded by unsung left-arm tweaker Clint Hinchliffe, who took a career-best 3-19, the Stars' spinners were called on for all but five overs of the Strikers innings and largely strangled the home side.
Glenn Maxwell, who relieved himself of captaincy duties following the death of a close friend, castled Phil Salt (22) to lift the Stars early, before Hinchliffe did likewise to skipper Travis Head (5).
Jake Weatherald (15) uncharacteristically battled for timing before drilling a return catch to Hinchliffe.
Hinchliffe collected his third massive scalp and Adelaide looked in deep trouble when Alex Carey, back in the country following Australia's recently concluded limited-overs series in India, holed out for a breezy 33 off 21 deliveries, which included three sixes.
Wells escaped the Stars web of deception with a typically busy half-century, his fourth of the summer.
He now has a season aggregate of 406 runs at 81.20 and, in Short, he found a valuable middle-order ally.
Australian Associated Press