Melbourne Renegades book place in BBL semi finals with victory over Sydney Thunder

Melbourne Renegades will play in consecutive semi finals for the first time in club history after a legspinner Cameron Boyce destroyed Sydney Thunder with the bat, blasting the equal-fastest half century of this year’s Big Bash.

A marauding late innings from Cameron Boyce has spared the Renegades’ blushes against Thunder. Picture: Getty Images

The Melbourne Renegades are safe.

Coach Andrew McDonald has guided the red team to back-to-back semi-finals for the first time in club history.

Tonight’s 27-run win against Sydney Thunder secured a top-four finish, with opener Marcus Harris expected to return when the Renegades play for a potential home final against Hobart Hurricanes next week.

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A marauding late innings from Cameron Boyce has spared the Renegades’ blushes against Thunder. Picture: Getty Images

Not that many witnessed it. Last night’s crowd of 10,287 was the smallest BBL crowd at Marvel Stadium since 2012 as thunder clapped around the city and kids prepared for another year of school.

But as the roof shut-out the summer storms the Sydney Thunder flashed and then quickly faded.

First, with the ball, as Cameron Boyce helped the Gades to 39 runs from the final two overs.

Then, with the bat, as a steady stream of wickets at the hands of the league’s No.1 attack denied any momentum.

Boyce’s blasts gave the Renegades something to bowl at after another brittle innings in the middle.

Kane Richardson underlined why he’s the leading wicket taker in the Big Bash with another bag of three wickets. Picture: Getty Images

But the Renegades were once again brilliant in the field as teenager Mackenzie Harvey took two quality catches.

Boyce backed up his whirlwind half-century with his maiden Marvel Stadium scalp for the summer to remove Kiwi Anton Devcich while Thunder skipper Shane Watson has made five runs in a week against the Gades.

Watson picked out Tom Cooper at extra cover last night after finding Aaron Finch at the same spot last week.

The Renegades now boast an 8-1 record against the Thunder, the most dominant in the league, and the lime green men’s destiny has been ripped out of their own hands.

THE GOOD

Cameron Boyce has spent the past few years secretly upskilling his work with the willow. “I’m starting to think more like a batsman, rather than a tailender that can try and get a few runs away,” Boyce told the Herald Sun. Boyce tries to cover off stump, dictate where the bowler puts it, and then clear the leg-side fence. Well, last night Boyce cleared the fence five times in an unbeaten 51 (22). Australia is looking for a World Cup leg-spinner and Boyce is in career-best form with both bat and ball. Last night’s power-hitting masterclass was the equal-fastest half-century this summer. Imagine that as Australia looks to close a World Cup innings? It was a season-defining innings for the red team.

THE BAD

Mackenzie Harvey hit consecutive boundaries — a pull shot and then an even better chip over mid-on — and was then caught on the rope by Chris Jordan. It was a careless, witless swipe as he picked out the only fielder in the leg-side. Sam Harper executed two ramp shots and then next ball was clean bowled after a wild swing missed a slower delivery. Captain Aaron Finch heaved a full-toss for six on his first ball and soon after edged Jordan to the keeper. Tom Cooper wasted 11 balls before flicking the easiest of catches straight back to bowler Ahmed. Beau Webster charged down the pitch, was bamboozled by Jono Cook’s spin and easily stumped metres down the pitch to leave his team 6/77. It was mindless batting on a minefield of a pitch.

THE UGLY

The correlation between poor matches and poor pitches is strong this season and last night’s Marvel Stadium track was another not up to standard. It was tricky and complemented by a slow outfield. Cricket Australia powerbrokers are privately fed up with these Big Bash decks, which are certain to come under review after the season. As former Stars captain John Hastings tweeted: “This is another wicket that is not conducive to good T20 cricket. It’s hard to put on a show when the wicket doesn’t allow it”. Thunder all-rounder Chris Green then had the toe of his bat plug into the dodgy turf as he was completing a second run after facing his first ball. As Green jumped over the crease his feet were in the air and he was cruelly run-out. Seriously?

WHAT IT MEANS

Hobart Hurricanes are odds-on to finish first and the Melbourne Renegades will finish somewhere between second and fourth. Then, three Big Bash League clubs are fighting for the other two semi-final spots. They are Sydney Sixers, Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars. The Sixers finish their season with crunch games against the Thunder (SCG) and the Stars (MCG) while the Thunder also has a tricky game against the Hurricanes (Canberra). The Stars are sitting fourth with a game in hand plus they have a friendlier draw with a pair of away games against bottom two clubs Brisbane and Perth, who might be in holiday mode. History says the rampant Hurricanes should still be very wary — five of the past six minor premiers have choked in their home semi-final.