Aaron Finch's charges put in a complete performance to hand the defending champions a second-straight loss
Match Report:
ScorecardRenegades deliver Thunder thumping
The score: Melbourne Renegades 7-179 (Finch 63) beat Sydney Thunder 130 (Hogg 2-22, Bravo 2-27) by 49 runs
The match in a tweet: Hoggy makes a successful debut in red as Aaron Finch leads the Renegades to a commanding victory
The hero
Aaron Finch averages more than 50 at Etihad Stadium and he continued that trend on Thursday night with a brutal 63 from 37 balls. Finch timed the ball exquisitely from the get go, and soon after discovering the slow outfield he decided the aerial route was the best option and promptly bossed four sixes. Two of those sixes came after he reached his half-century in 33 balls before he fell going for a hat-trick of maximums.
The spin twins
The spinning duo of Sunil Narine and Bard Hogg were always going to major players for the Renegades and it proved that way on Thursday night. The pair combined to take 4-54 from eight overs, taking advantage of a pitch that offered plenty of purchase. Having played with the Kolkata Knight Riders together in the Indian Premier League the spin twins spell real danger for opposition teams this season.
The kitchen sink
Dwayne Bravo put everything he had into obliterating a Clint McKay slower ball. He wound up, swung hard and did just about everything right except lay bat on ball. Perhaps it was shock that he missed or just the velocity of his swing, but Bravo’s bat left his hands in his wild follow through. The allrounder then had to collect his lost property before exiting the playing arena.
The run out
Andre Russell showed just what a special athlete he is with a brilliant run out of Renegades speedster Chris Tremain. After Callum Ferguson dug out a perfect yorker from Russell, the bowler took off as the batsmen ran, collecting the ball, diving and releasing all in one motion to dismiss the non-striker for a golden duck.
The perfect finish
Ricky Ponting said in commentary that Narine could swing a bat. Once again, Punter was spot on. Facing up to the final ball of the Renegades innings having already struck a sweet boundary, Narine hooked West Indies teammate Russell for a massive six that guaranteed the momentum was with the hosts at the halfway stage.
The horror start
If Narine’s six was the perfect finish for the Renegades, then a wicket from the first ball of the Thunder’s chase was the absolute worst start. Lanky left-hander Kurtis Patterson couldn’t resist the juicy wide half-volley from part-timer Tom Cooper, but instead of banishing it to the boundary he sliced it to point to fall for a golden duck.
The bouncer
It wasn’t the googly. It wasn’t the stock leg-break. It was, if you can believe it, a bouncer that brought Brad Hogg his first wicket for the Renegades. To be fair, it was probably a flipper that got dragged down, but all the same it landed halfway down the pitch and brought about a top edge from Ryan Gibson’s bat. As you can image, Hoggy celebrated like he’d won the lottery.
The consolation effort
Pat Cummins is angling for allrounder status the way he’s hitting them. The paceman clocked four maximums in his 23-ball 36 in a losing cause. Coming in at No.6 a few eyebrows were raised, but with clean striking like that he might find himself in the top six more often.
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