Melbourne Stars 153 for 5 (Lawrence 64*, Stoinis 62, Bartlett 4-10) beat Brisbane Heat 149 for 7 (Bryant 77, Walter 21, Steketee 2-42) by five wickets

Stars defeated defending champions Brisbane Heat by five wickets at the Gabba in a breakthrough win after losing their opening five games this season and the final three of last year's campaign.

Stoinis walloped Paul Walter for four fours in one over and paced the chase perfectly, bludgeoning anything loose to secure his first win this season as Stars captain. Lawrence upped the ante at the end to take the pressure off Stoinis in an innings of class.

Maxwell has done a plethora of freakish acts of genius in T20 cricket but he took it to the next level with a classic catch for the ages, his fourth for the innings.

The 36-year-old leapt metres over the long-on boundary to catch the ball in one hand before throwing it back into the field of play while in the air. He then calmly stepped back over the boundary rope to complete the catch and send a stunned Will Prestwidge on his way.

The ball seamed around from the start and justified the decision by Stoinis to send Heat in. Captain Colin Munro continued his poor form in the BBL this summer and now has 23 runs in four innings. Fellow opener Tom Banton was the second wicket early for Mark Steketee against his former franchise.

When veteran Peter Siddle clean bowled Nathan McSweeney with the first ball of his spell the hosts were on the rack.

Walter threatened to cut loose before Bryant took charge, carting Steketee for three sixes and three times lofting Siddle into the crowd twice with massive blows. He finished with six maximums in a blistering knock that included brute power and deft ramp shots to give his bowlers a total to defend.

But, Stoinis and Lawrence stepped up in the run chase to consign defending champions Heat to their third consecutive loss.