Big Bash derby: Renegades can be the stars of Melbourne

THE Melbourne Big Bash derby looms as a changing of the guard. The Stars have had the wood over the Renegades but the red team could be the city’s best chance of breaking through for a title this season.

Aaron Finch’s Renegades in Melbourne’s best hope of winning the Big Bash title. Picture: Getty Images

THIS is Melbourne Renegades’ chance to paint the town red.

If captain Aaron Finch’s team can invade the MCG and beat the Melbourne Stars in front of 60,000 fans there will, finally, be a new sheriff in town.

The Gades are shooting for 4-1 and are out to send the Stars to 0-4, what would be their worst start in Big Bash history.

And as Saturday night’s cool change drops the mercury, the pressure on the Stars will rise. Some stinging questions have been levelled at chairman Eddie McGuire’s franchise this week.

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Have the Stars gone stale? Was John Hastings the right call as captain after a long injury layoff? Is this Kevin Pietersen’s swansong?

It’s uncharted seas for a franchise with a perfect record of reaching the semi-finals.

The Stars’ world-class batting line-up is failing and they own the BBL’s worst three economy rates — Hastings (11.9), Scott Boland (11) and Marcus Stoinis (10.6).

Renegades allrounder Dwayne Bravo is taking wickets and not giving away many runs. Picture: Getty Images

Stoinis’s four wickets leads the green team’s tally. In three games they have been poor with the ball twice and with the bat twice.

Stoinis’s blazing 99 at the Gabba saved the batsmen from a trio of outs. The pre-tournament fancy has looked disorganised, unsettled and frustrated.

Finch’s Renegades, the league’s perennial underachiever, have appeared the opposite.

In four matches they are yet to change their line-up. They’ve reeled out an eclectic attack perfectly suited to T20 cricket.

The variety makes it tough for batsmen to settle, let alone get a hold of. They have not conceded a half-century.

Five bowlers are leaking less than 7.3 runs per over — Kane Richardson (7.2 from 16 overs), DJ Bravo (7.1 from 11 overs), Mohammad Nabi (5.5 from 14 overs), Jack Wildermuth (6.7 from 14 overs) and Bradley Hogg (6.7 from 15).

How the Stars could line up.

How the Renegades could line up.

Bravo, with his slower ball, appears the ideal match-up for Pietersen and Nabi’s spin threatens to continue Luke Wright’s powerplay struggles.

A Renegades win would crystallise the changing of the guard. But if you dig deeper that has been brewing.

The Stars have lost their past six matches and five of their past six at the MCG.

In that time the Renegades have won five of their past six, including last summer’s MCG derby.

The Renegades can cement themselves as Melbourne’s best chance of breaking the Big Bash League drought in the league’s seventh season.

Coaches Stephen Fleming (Stars) and Andrew McDonald (Gades) conceded the challenges two-team towns face are so significant they will be cheering each other on outside of derby matches.

This summer one-team towns are 10-3 against two-team towns.

Lengthy contracts have enforced a several rigid seasons for the Stars, but defeat tonight could accelerate sweeping list changes.

Kevin Pietersen may be playing his last season with the Stars. Picture: AAP

Bob Quiney, 35, has scored three ducks from his past five BBL innings and has been overtaken by 24-year-old Seb Gotch.

Bendigo’s Liam Bowe, 20, is likely to slot into Adam Zampa’s position when the ODIs begin and Jackson Coleman, 26, is closing in on a debut.

The Stars will argue that’s premature. They have been 0-3 once before, and responded with a 112-run derby thrashing of the Renegades.

Seven Stars and only three Renegades remain from that match three summers ago. The Gades have refreshed and are rejuvenated.

To replicate that turnaround the Stars need to shake things up. What can the green team do on Saturday night?

Everything you need to know.