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The Melbourne Renegades will hope to keep their hopes alive in the Big Bash League when they take on the Brisbane Heat on Tuesday. You can follow the live blog of this BBL 2014-15 encounter starting 7:40pm AEDT.
As things currently stand on the points table, this is a battle for the wooden spoon. The Renegades are penultimate in that list with four points from six while the Heat have won just one and are struggling at the bottom of that table with two points.
A deeper analysis suggest that while the Heat are all but out of the competition in terms of making it to the semi-finals, the Renegades still have a chance.
The team in red from Melbourne needs to win both their remaining two games and then hope for an assist of sorts from other results. Because even if they get to eight points after winning those last two matches, the net run-rate could well come into the equation. For now, the Renegades have a super-poor net run-rate of -0.612.
Over the last two games, the Renegades showed they are capable of a lot more than what the points table suggests.
Against the Hobart Hurricanes they scored 163 for seven in their 20 overs, thanks to Ben Stokes’ 77 and then bouyed by Nicholas Winter’s three for 19, they bowled the Hurricanes out for 126.
The much-superior Stars did well to restrict the Renegades to 153 and get to within 44 runs of the target with eight overs remaining. 26 runs came from the next four overs, which meant the game looked all but over for the Renegades as the Stars were left with just 18 to get from four.
The Renegades turned on the screws in the next three overs and pulled them to needing six from the last over and then one from one.
Had it not been for a goof-up by Nathan Rimmington off the last ball of the over, the game would have gone into the Super Over.
At the other end of the spectrum are the Brisbane Heat, having lost four matches in a row. And unfortunately for them, the losses have become more and more facile.
Their total of 208 was chased down in 19 overs by the Hurricanes, the Strikers needed 18.5 to get to 153, they lost with more than four overs to spare against the Scorchers while the Sixers beat them by six wickets and with 14 balls to spare.
Clearly the Heat do not seem to have too many answers to their oppositions’ questions so far but it will be interesting to see how, having been ruled out of the BBL finals, affects them.
Most teams end up going through the motions in such scenarios but there are others which, by the release of that pressure, perform with a lot more freedom and hence outshine their previous showing.
Will the Heat make it really tough for the Renegades in this one or allow the Melbourne side to run away with the game?
You can follow the live score of this from 7.40pm AEDT on Tuesday and post your comments in the section below.
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