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A big 73-run knock from Kevin Pietersen has seen the Melbourne Stars dominantly triumphant over their crosstown rivals the Melbourne Renegades on Saturday night.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Melbourne Renegades 9/154
Melbourne Stars 7/200
Stars won by 46 runs.
It is time for round two in the Victorian Derby as the bout heads to the Docklands with the Melbourne Renegades hosting the Melbourne Stars. Join The Roar for live scores from 7:10pm (AEDT).
The Derby has quickly become one of the marquee fixtures of the Big Bash shattering attendance records at both Victorian venues.
After drawing over 70,000 at the MCG on New Year’s Day, the record crowd of 43,176 for a Big Bash game at Docklands Stadium set last year could be under serious threat.
Aside from the growing rivalry between the two squads, tonight’s match shapes to be a vital game for both teams as a log jam develops on the points table.
Just one victory separates the second-placed Perth Scorchers and the sixth-placed Adelaide Strikers.
While the rest of the league have played five games, both Melbourne teams have
played just the three and although the Renegades sit fourth on the table whereas the Stars are seventh, there is not much separating the two.
In their previous match against the Sydney Thunder, for the majority of the game the Stars looked set to join the Renegades on two victories from three matches.
A brilliantly paced half-century from Kevin Pietersen and a quick fire 34 from Glenn Maxwell led Melbourne to an above par score of 166 on a slow pitch.
After the spinning duo of Adam Zampa and Michael Beer collectively bowled their seven overs for just 40 runs while also picking up a wicket, the Stars ensured the asking run rate for the Thunder was usually in double figures for the majority of the innings.
However, in his last match of the tournament, English skipper Eoin Morgan bludgeoned 17 runs in the final over including a mammoth last ball six to hand the Stars their second successive loss.
The losses have come in an unconventional fashion for the Stars – losing to the Renegades in a rain-interrupted match with a Duckworth-Lewis adjusted score and a last-ball loss to the Thunder.
While the Stars can consider themselves unlucky to lose in such a manner, the consecutive defeats have exposed deficiencies within their squad.
Despite a strong showing from the top order in all three matches, the middle order for the Stars has so far failed to build on the platform provided. Lacking new Test sensation Peter Handscomb to anchor the innings, the Stars batting unit may be a little top heavy.
In team news, Stars opener Rob Quiney is available for selection after missing the previous two matches due to a tight hamstring. He seems a likely inclusion, after a man of the match performance led Melbourne to their first and only win of the Big Bash season.
Having Quiney back should also bolster the Stars middle order issues by pushing either Glenn Maxwell or Kevin Pietersen lower down.
Meanwhile, after losing Dwayne Bravo for the remainder of the season the Renegades have called in Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera as his replacement. However, the big-hitting Sri Lankan will not make his debut against the Stars tonight due to a hold up in paperwork.
Also coming into the squad for potentially his first match of the tournament is paceman James Pattinson. Pattinson has not played any form of top-level cricket since February of last year where he last played in a test match against New Zealand.
Assuming he can stay healthy, the oft-injured but lethal paceman will be a required player for the remainder of the Renegades season and should complement spinners Brad Hogg and Sunil Narine.
Prediction
With key players James Faulkner, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa likely all departing the squad for international duty against Pakistan in the ODI’s, the Derby is a do-or-die clash for the Stars.
The Stars are likely to face the strongest bowling unit the Renegades can select with the likely inclusion of James Pattinson joining the impressive Chris Tremain and the elite spin duo of Hogg and Narine.
But with the return of Rob Quiney, the Stars may have just enough firepower to overwhelm the Renegades.
Melbourne Stars to avenge the New Year’s loss to the Renegades in a very close contest.
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