Big Bash: Melbourne Renegades’ season over after loss to Melbourne Stars
Any slight hopes the Renegades had of salvaging their horror season were dashed by a ruthless Stars outfit in the Melbourne derby.
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IT is six and out for the Melbourne Renegades.
At 0-6 the red team’s Big Bash title defence is all over.
The Gades haven’t tasted victory since last summer’s final and with captain Aaron Finch and strike weapon Kane Richardson off to India this week who knows how long new coach Michael Klinger will have to wait.
The red team would need to win seven of eight games to qualify. That’s as likely as Prime Minister Scott Morrison winning a weekend popularity contest.
In May Cricket Victoria absorbed both franchise’s boards and the in-house management was set to bring the clubs closer together.
But on the field they’ve never been further apart. At 5-1 the Stars are in the all-too-familiar position of tournament favourites.
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In front of the third-biggest Melbourne derby crowd of 54,478 watched Glenn Maxwell’s team stroll in the easy sort of victory it should’ve enjoyed in last year’s final.
Last year, with the trophy on the line, they needed 53 off 43 with 10 wickets left and lost 7-19. Last night they needed 53 off 50 with eight wickets left and won by eight wickets with seven balls to spare.
SPIN TO WIN
HARIS Rauf’s legion of Pakistan fans cried foul when a fit Sandeep Lamichhane replaced the BBL’s sudden star in Glenn Maxwell’s XI. Well, Maxi knew best. Leg spin twins Lamichhane and Adam Zampa shared 5-45 (20 dot balls) last night to rip through the red team. They were prized scalps, too. Zampa castled Aaron Finch early and then, in 15 balls, they jagged 4-7 as the Gades slumped to 6-124. “He’s an absolute superstar,” Maxwell said of the Nepalese tweaker on Saturday night. Maxwell told the Herald Sun earlier this summer that, with the MCG’s huge boundaries, countries would spin to win at this year’s T20 World Cup. It’s a gameplan the Stars have down-pat.
STOINIS SIZZLES
THE knock on Marcus Stoinis has long been he takes too long to get going. It was Stoinis the ball-soaker rather than Stoinis the ball-slogger at the start. Well, on Saturday night he smashed that criticism for four. Yes – not six, four. Stoinis crunched six of his first 11 balls to the rope to put a blunt end to the red team’s season.
The powerful opener didn’t bother running, and it was a similar story at the other end as Nic Maddinson cracked three of his first five balls to the rope. Glenn Maxwell lamented how Stoinis and Ben Dunk failed to punish the new ball when it was rock hard enough in last summer’s final. Lesson learned.
Stoinis is averaging 297 runs at a strike-rate of 122.2 from his past six knocks against Renegades, with five of those unbeaten.
MIDDLE A MIGHTY WORRY
FINCH’S middle order is a mighty concern, and veteran Tom Cooper must be on the chopping block. There is no meat and, despite top-order cameos from Sam Harper, Shaun Marsh and the skipper there’s little else coming. Cooper, 33, is averaging 6.5 and striking at 65. On Saturday night he was dropped by Maxwell and then given out lbw the very next ball. Marcus Harris has already been axed while Dan Christian has three ducks this season and last night became just the fourth batsman in BBL history to get stumped first ball.
LIGHTS, WIND AND GOLD CAPS … WELCOME TO THE HUDDLE
FOX Cricket took TV viewers into the strategic time-outs for the first time and it was terrific access. Gades coach Michael Klinger urged his batsmen to target 170 by taking 7-10 runs from one end and 12 from the other, given they could blast with the wind. It briefly worked as Nathan Coulter Nile’s next over from the breezy crease cost 17 runs. At 2-77 relaxed Stars coach David Hussey joked to Marcus Stoinis: “Well done, gold cap. But I’m not sure gold’s your colour” with Stoinis becoming the BBL’s leading runscorer. Meanwhile a calm Glenn Maxwell offered up “You can notice the light towers” with two of the six MCG towers lit up with new sports LEDs and two other switched off with an $11 million upgrade under way.
STEYN SIGNS OFF WITH A GIGGLE
DALE Steyn’s Big Bash stint netted 5-81 from 78 balls and a funny run-out last night when he teased Tom Andrews for several seconds before cheekily removing the bails. In comes England kid Pat Brown meanwhile Renegades’ import Richard Gleeson is bleeding boundaries and Richard Gurney (hamstring) is injured after spending 45 hours on planes in a return trip to the UK for a wedding. The Gades thought they had Andre Russell and then signed Pakistanis Usman Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf only to have them pull out on the eve of the season. It’s hurting.
CASH RAISED FOR RELIEF
LAST night cost Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson a combined $850 – all for a good cause. They have pledged to donate $250 every six (Maxwell to Red Cross Bushfire Appeal) and $200 for every wicket (Zampa and Richardson to Wildlife Victoria and Wildlife Rescue) in a commendable effort. Mind you, it would take 2000 sixes for Maxwell to match rock star Pink’s generous donation of $500,000 … and 2875 if that’s in US dollars. Start slogging, Maxi!