Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Sixers: Follow all the action from today’s WBBL/BBL double header

THE Melbourne Renegades are the real deal after crushing the Sydney Sixers by eight wickets with Aaron Finch and Cameron White setting up the massive win in Geelong.

MELBOURNE Renegades have long lived in the shadow of cross-town rival Melbourne Stars.

But Saturday night’s MCG derby is the red team’s chance to cast darkness over the winless green team. Captain Aaron Finch’s Renegades can charge to 4-1 and force a total eclipse of the Stars at 0-4. Wednesday night’s smothering of Sydney Sixers at Geelong’s packed Kardinia Park showed the Renegades are finally for real. Two seasons ago the Gades’ pop-gun attack took just 32 wickets and last season they failed to defend a BBL-record 4-222. But on Wednesday night they had the Sixers hovering between a Test and 50-over match run-rate, which never reached a run per ball as the only six came in the final over. Sydney posted 8-111 on a pitch appearing to lack pace, perhaps related to the MCG Boxing Day bore as the Gades cruised to victory with 27 balls and eight wickets to spare. Finch flipped around his bowling plans and his attack flicked through Sydney’s batting card. Kane Richardson replaced part-timer Tom Cooper with the new ball and Dwayne Bravo was brought on in the power-play. Richardson (0-13) sent down a golden maiden to struggling import Jason Roy and then, with the pressure rising, Roy lifted a Bravo ball to Finch at mid-off after making just five runs. Boy, Roy was unlucky as Finch flew, threw his hand in the air and watched the white ball stick. But Finch deserved the spoils. The tactician was the one who identified Bravo’s slower ball as the ideal match-up for Roy. The common denominator was Mohammad Nabi, with spin simply irresistible to dislodge in the first over. Again, Nabi (2-22) delivered by removing former Renegade Peter Nevill for a golden duck. Sixers coach Greg Shipperd said his front-end batting had been wonky and last night it flopped. The magenta men were 2-20 after the power-play – the equal second-lowest score in BBL history after six overs. It contained one boundary as the Sixers were barely able to pierce the inner circle let alone find the fence. The Gades attack was harder to crack than a coconut and contains cunning variation. Nabi has managed to emulate the numbers of the man he replaced, Sunil Narine, while Richardson’s ball speed impressed. Bravo’s cutters proved troublesome – and he threw down Nic Maddinson’s stumps on 24 (28) – while evergreen spinner Bradley Hogg found a leading edge from Jordan Silk to pinch 1-26. The Sixers entered wounded – they lined up without captain Moises Henriques, Stephen O’Keeffe and Daniel Hughes. They entered weary – Shipperd smashed his team’s trek from Perth to Geelong in 48 hours as “the dumbest piece of scheduling I’ve ever been privy to”. And the Sixers fly home today eliminated from the finals race at 0-5. Finch struck 51 (38) to race the Renegades home, slashing six fours and two sixes to frank yesterday’s ODI selection after three false starts in the Big Bash. It might’ve been the easiest 50 the Colac Clouter has ever made and the only way he way they were going to get him out was run-out, and Roy eventually did just that. But Finch and Cameron White, who is averaging 92 this season, had the crowd of 23,586 buzzing and the picturesque setting showed why Geelong can expect extra Gades games next year. Commentator Kevin Pietersen even noted Kardina Park has the “best lights in world cricket”. Finch’s men have found the Stars poisonous the past four summers, losing seven of eight encounters. But with the imbalance between bat and ball corrected they look to have found the cure. WBBL: Renegades beat Sixers in thriller MELBOURNE Renegades moved back to the top four with a dramatic super-over victory against top team Sydney Sixers in a WBBL cliff­hanger at Geelong on Wednesday. Jess Duffin hit a single off the last ball of Marizanne Kapp’s super over to snatch the win, nine runs to eight. It was the second celebration of the day for the Renegades, who fleetingly thought they had defended their 7-120 in regulation play. Sixer Sarah Aley, needing three to win off the last ball of the 20th over, inside-edged Amy Satterthwaite to short fine leg for what appeared to be just a single. Kris Britt threw the ball to Renegades wicketkeeper Emma Ing­lis, who instinctively and pre­maturely started celebrating — but didn’t break the wickets. Aley, showing tremendous awareness, scampered back for a second run to tie the scores, beating the desperate efforts of Satterthwaite, who cottoned on to what was happening but couldn’t execute the run-out. . SEE HOW WE COVERED THE ACTION IN OUR BLOG BELOW

Originally published as Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Sixers: Follow all the action from today’s WBBL/BBL double header

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