BBL: Tom Cooper stars for Melbourne Renegades in big win over Sydney Sixers

Aaron Finch will return to captain a rejuvenated Melbourne Renegades this weekend set to open with Tom Cooper and extend the side’s weird stat.

The Renegades’ Tom Cooper launches to catch the Sixers’ Moises Henriques on Wednesday night. Picture: Getty Images

Aaron Finch will return to captain a rejuvenated Melbourne Renegades on Saturday night after the red team jumped to second on the Big Bash ladder with a clinical victory in Sydney.

Returning paceman Kane Richardson’s two early wickets consigned the Sydney Sixers to another disastrous power-play on Wednesday night before stand-in skipper Tom Cooper returned to form with the bat.

Richardson is the BBL’s No.1 power-play wicket-taker and he overtook Rashid Khan (Strikers) with 14 scalps for the summer on Wednesday night, despite missing two games with a hamstring injury.

Cooper entered the SCG clash averaging just 15 runs but was a surprise promotion to opener last night and he cashed in with 49 runs (33 balls).

Remarkably, Cooper and Marcus Harris became the Renegades’ eighth different opening partnership in nine games.

Tom Cooper starred with the bat for the Renegades against the Sixers. Picture: Getty Images

Cooper became the eighth different batsmen to be used at the top and he is now expected to open with Finch against the Melbourne Stars at Marvel Stadium.

That would give the Renegades nine fresh opening combinations from 10 games.

The Sixers were rattled at 4/29 after 51 balls. The Renegades raced to 1/79 after 51 balls and all five batsmen who faced a ball clubbed a six into the small crowd of 16,281.

The BBL ladder is as cramped as a tram in peak hour but the 5-4 Renegades have suddenly found some air.

They will drop to third on the ladder if Sydney Thunder defeats Brisbane Heat at the Gabba tonight but cannot fall any further before their home derby against the Stars.

HARRIS SEES RED AGAINST THE WHITE BALL

Marcus Harris now has seven days to readjust to facing the red ball after battling to switch to cricket’s fast-food format. Harris, 26, scored only 40 runs from his three Big Bash League knocks between Test series and he will be replaced by Finch for Saturday night’s derby against the Stars. “I’ve been looking to play the ball late and leave the ball a little bit (at Test level) and then all of a sudden I’m trying to smack it out of the park,” Harris said on Wednesday. Some players are so used to the transition they find it as easy as changing clothes. Others, like Harris, clearly don’t.

SIGN UP SAM!

Sam Harper was signed as a replacement player on the cusp of the season and the Renegades should now be offering him a pen and a long-term contract. The little keeper is in for a big pay day with his rapid emergence as an attacking batsman with cat-like reflexes behind the stumps. Harper has overtaken his mentor, Tim Ludeman, and his 220 runs ranks No.9 in the BBL and is easily No.1 for the red team. Harper has been one of the finds of the summer, along with Riley Meredith (Hobart), Jason Sangha, Daniel Sams (Thunder) and Nick Larkin (Stars). The green team must be kicking itself at letting Harper go.

The Renegades’ Tom Cooper launches to catch the Sixers’ Moises Henriques on Wednesday night. Picture: Getty Images

SLICK IN THE FIELD

The standard of Big Bash fielding has been sloppy this summer but the Renegades were ultra-sharp on Wednesday night. The Sixers’ power-play was littered with dots as magenta batsmen whipped deliveries directly to fielders. Cooper had his placements bang on and then took a clever catch himself to remove rival skipper Moises Henriques. The only blemish was when Cameron White put down Jordan Silk at mid-on, but White made up for that by catching opener Jack Edwards in the same spot the very next ball. It felt like a training drill.

NEW NABI GAMEPLAN

It appeared Mohammad Nabi was evolving from a bowling allrounder to a batting allrounder. Last summer Nabi bowled 25.5 out of a maximum 28 overs (92.3 per cent) but he entered last night having sent down just 18 out of 32 overs (56.3 per cent). Captain Tom Cooper took until the 14th over to use Nabi last night, but it worked so well he bowled out at the death overs. And while there wasn’t a heap of spin, Nabi picked up a BBL-best 4/25, including bowling the dangerous Josh Phillippe around his legs and then trapping Tom Curran with the final ball of the innings. Then, as Nabi has done so often this season, he finished the game with a big six.

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