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The Melbourne Stars host the Melbourne Renegades in a Big Bash League clash that is shaping as a do-or-die derby at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Join me on The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:10pm (AEST).
They say if you cut yourself in Melbourne, any health care worker can tell who you support. If the blood is a medium shade of green it means you are a Stars fan with all that it implies: you are conservative, pro-establishment, part of the old order.
If heaven forbid your blood is that unnatural colour red, then you are a free-thinker, and individualist, a Renegade.
Why this matters now is that the two Melbourne BBL clubs are going into battle at the famous MCG.
Melbourne will be split down the middle.
You are either a red or a green and to add just a bit more spice to this derby, the match takes on the added significance of being a virtual elimination final as the loser will almost certainly miss out on the top four.
Neither team has started brilliantly and the Renegades fortunes appeared to have hit rock bottom when they were given a sound thrashing by the Stars just two matches ago.
In an abysmal showing, the Renegades were dismissed for 57 – the lowest total in the history of the competition. That was before a combination of new arrivals, England’s Ben Stokes and Bangladeshi Shakib Al Hasan, had the Renegades faithful starting to believe.
Ben Stokes made batting look easy on a difficult pitch against the Hurricanes, smashing 77 off 37 balls. His performance gave the Renegades a competitive total which their bowlers defended in a very professional manner.
The spin bowling of Al Hasan and Ahmed was superb, with both mixing up the deliveries and reacquainting Big Bash audiences with the subtle arts of dip and drift. The brilliant wrongun’ from Ahmed to dismiss Birt was a masterpiece of the spinner’s craft.
Likewise the Stars who for all the hype, had failed to live up to expectations up until the last derby. Their crushing performance over the Renegades set up a stern test against Sydney. The exciting super over win against the Sixers has finally given the Stars some momentum and much like a Kevin Pietersen innings could finish the season strongly.
The Stars have regained their mojo with good team performances without any one player completely standing out. The bowling combination of the three B’s – Beer, Boland and Bird has performed strongly and Keven Pietersen is looking in good touch with the bat. Wright, Cam White and Maxwell all still have yet to set the world alight but the signs are things are starting to turn.
With each team having two wins from five matches, tonight’s loser will almost certainly miss out on the finals. It makes this Melbourne derby the most important in the short history of the Big Bash.
Tip: Melbourne Stars to continue on their winning ways.
Join The Roar from 7.10pm (AEDT) for all the action
Preview author: 70s Mo (follow him on Twitter @70s_mo)
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