A Nic Maddinson half-century and a three-wicket haul to Nathan Lyon were the highlights of an emphatic eight-wicket win by the Sydney Sixers over the Melbourne Stars in their BBL clash at the MCG.
The Stars needed a win on Tuesday night to keep their faint finals hopes alive, but the Sixers - already out of finals contention - reached the target of 129 for the loss of two wickets with 29 balls to spare.
Sixers skipper Johan Botha won the toss and elected to bowl, with man-of-the-match Lyon leading the way with figures of 3-18 from four overs before Maddinson bludgeoned five sixes in a superb 62 from 31 deliveries.
"He was the man of the match for me," Lyon said of Maddinson.
"Those small targets can actually be quite hard to chase down, but the way he went out there and backed his game, hit those big shots, really broke the back of the Stars.
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"I was pretty happy with the way the ball came out and to take a few wickets, but to put the Stars on the back foot was the main thing."
Sean Abbott (2-35 from four overs) and Ben Dwarshuis (0-20 from four) were also key performers with the ball for the visitors.
Glenn Maxwell (28 from 16) and James Faulkner (28 from 30) top-scored for the Stars.
Peter Handscomb spurned a stumping opportunity when Maddinson was on 30 and the opener made the most of his second chance, scoring his first half-century of this BBL campaign.
He was caught by Ben Dunk off the bowling of Jackson Coleman, but by that stage the Sixers needed just eight runs to score their second win of the season.
Maddinson shared a match-winning 92-run partnership with Daniel Hughes, who was unbeaten on 49 from 46 balls.
Melbourne's star-studded green team are anchored to the bottom of the table with one win from seven games and will miss the finals for the first time after six appearances in succession.
"I'm pretty disappointed ... that was a subpar performance and we've had a fair few of those this season," Stars skipper John Hastings said.
"We've been doing everything we possibly can to try to turn the corner, but we just haven't been good enough."
The Sixers face a quick turnaround before they host the Brisbane Heat at the SCG on Thursday, while the Stars host the Sydney Thunder at the MCG on Saturday night.
