Dan Christian lifts Melbourne Renegades to stunning win against Sydney Sixers
Melbourne Renegades call Dan Christian ‘Siri’ and now the Sydney Sixers know why. The brilliant all-rounder had all the answers in a cut-throat semi-final, lifting his side to its biggest win in history.
- Meet the man taking Windies cricket back to the Glory Days
- The fiery net session where Tait nearly broke Justin Langer
Melbourne Renegades call Dan Christian ‘Siri’ and now the Sydney Sixers know why.
Christian’s teammates say he has all the answers and on Friday night the powerful batsman responded to every challenge the Sixers threw at him.
Christian – who earned that nickname from Victorian Rob Quiney – singlehandedly set up a mouth-watering Melbourne derby Grand Final with a set of lusty boundaries leaving the Marvel Stadium crowd clapping their hands red.
One of the local franchises will finally break their BBL duck at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, where the Stars have won their past six matches.
It seemed impossible. When captain Aaron Finch departed, his team required 47 runs from just 24 balls with two new batsmen at the crease.
It then became 33 runs from 14 balls. But those batsmen were Christian and Cameron Boyce and that pair arrived from Hobart Hurricanes this season with the power to clear the rope.
Christian thumped two sixes off Sean Abbott’s penultimate over – one off the first ball and one off the last – to leave the red team needing just seven runs from the final over.
Boyce was out hit wicket by Ben Dwarshuis first up and then Kane Richardson hit his first ball to the rope.
Then, Christian (31 off 14 balls) and Richardson finished the job as the Renegades chased down Sydney’s 3/180 with one ball to spare.
It was a semi-final for the ages and the Renegades will now play in their first ever Grand Final.
Christian is playing for his 16th franchise and chasing his seventh T20 title with success long stalking the 35-year-old.
Finch might need to ask partner David Warner for some switch-hitting tips when they warm up for this year’s World Cup in England.
While Warner faced up left-handed to Chris Gayle and tonked 14 runs from three balls in Bangladesh last month, Finch turned into a left-hander and was bowled by Steve O’Keefe.
O’Keefe clean bowled both openers, albeit 90 balls apart, and Finch said on Thursday his team needed a set batsman at the death.
But his departure robbed them of exactly that. Luckily for Finch, Christian wasted no time getting set.
Friday night’s crowd of 15,342 was even smaller than the 16,285 Renegades drew to their other home semi-final, all the way back in BBL02.
Fancy downsizing six summers on but boy, did those in the stands enjoy the show.
BIG BEN, BAD BEN
Ben Dwarshuis should wake up embarrassed. The Sixers paceman removed a blazing Sam Harper and then had a brain snap of his own, brushing Harper as he charged past in celebration. Harper turned and eyeballed him, walked off and then angrily dropped his bat and helmet and threw his gloves into the astro turf. It’s a fair effort to rile one of cricket’s nicest blokes and we’ll find out on Saturday if umpires Gerard Abood and Phil Gillespie file a report for breaching cricket’s code of conduct. It wasn’t overly malicious but it was dumb, and probably deserves a reprimand at best.
HARPER HEROICS
You can understand why Dwarshuis was pumped. Captain Aaron Finch gave Harper a license to thrill and he used it. Harper creamed 25 runs off seven consecutive deliveries against Sean Abbott and Dwarshuis before his dismissal. Harper smashed a back-foot cover drive over cover for six and then hit a flat six over point. Batting coach Trent Woodhill labelled Harper an AB de Villiers clone and his strokes the best of the tournament. It’ll burn that he and Cameron White got out on the final balls of good overs but they packed some punches. White and Harper were both left unwanted by the Stars but they get their cracks at revenge against their old club tomorrow.
HARRY HITS A HURDLE
Justin Langer once described Marcus Harris as mediocre with flashes of brilliance. Unfortunately there haven’t been any of those flashes for the Renegades. Harris hammered the first ball of Friday night’s innings to the rope and three balls later he charged Steve O’Keefe, missed and was clean bowled. Harris’s six BBL games either side of the Sri Lanka series have yielded just 62 runs at an average of 10.3 and a strike-rate of 103.3 Harris also averaged just 23 against a depleted Sri Lanka as four of the five batsmen below him cashed in with Test centuries. Harris is yet to reach 50 in nine digs since impressing at the SCG against India. The struggle to switch from red ball to white ball to red ball and back to white ball is real.
SIXERS HIT WRONG PEDAL
It was a silky start and a Silk finish for the Sixers. They were 1/121 after 12 overs and then Jordan Silk creamed a six off the final ball to give them a rush of momentum at the innings break. But in between they hit the brakes when they should’ve been motoring to at least 200 runs. Sixers scored just 53 runs from 47 balls before Silk’s towering finish and ultimately they were a couple short.
WATCH LIVE: Every Test, ODI & T20I live, ad-break free during play and in 4K. Only on Foxtel. SIGN UP NOW!
Updates
Analysis: Battle royale looms at the MCG
A potential Cameron Green sized hole has left Aussie selectors with a huge headache. And after having their first look at how to solve it, it’s now even more unclear, as a 19-year-old and a veteran both made monster hundreds.
Test hopeful and teen star set Shield alight
The national selection chief was in Sydney to watch a rising star carve out a maiden century as Victorian Test hopeful also opened the Sheffield Shield season in style.