Aaron Finch has enjoyed a winning finish despite a third-ball duck, as his Melbourne Renegades side dealt a massive blow to the BBL finals hopes of local rivals Melbourne Stars with a six-wicket victory.
Marvel Stadium witnessed an anti-climatic finale with the bat on Saturday from former Australian captain Finch, who came charging down the pitch and skied an easy catch to his old mate Glenn Maxwell at mid-off.
Maxwell didn’t celebrate as Finch walked off to great acclaim, raising his bat to acknowledge the 41,205 crowd.
Finch, the Renegades all-time leading scorer, had his team jersey number retired before the game.
He departs as a T20 great, having notched the second most BBL runs, hundreds fifties and fours and the fourth-most sixes.
“This club is something I’ve put everything into, it’s sad that it’s over but I’m also happy,” Finch told Fox cricket.
“I’m obviously well past my best, the young kids coming through are so good so I wanted to give them every opportunity but it’s to nice to go out with a win, especially against the Stars.”
Indeed, the Gades gave him the proper send-off. Chasing the Stars’ 8-137 on a tricky wicket offering assistance to spinners and quicks, they achieved their target with 16 balls to spare.
They stumbled in the Power Surge but veteran Shaun Marsh (64no off 49 balls) and Jonathan Wells (14no off 15) steered them to victory with a 46-run stand to lift the Renegades off the bottom of the table.
The loss left the fifth-placed Stars a point behind Adelaide Strikers, who will wrap up fourth spot if they beat the Thunder in Canberra on Sunday.
If the Strikers lose, the Stars will finish fourth if they win their final match against Hobart Hurricanes on Monday at the MCG.
Young hot shot Jake Fraser-McGurk, one of those “young kids” Finch was talking about, underlined his talent with a sparkling 42 off 31 balls.
He and Marsh did play and miss a number of times, as the Stars seamers exploited the favourable conditions, but added 68.
Fraser-McGurk provided one of the highlights of the game, with a sweetly timed six over midwicket, the shot making a glorious cracking sound as it flew off the bat.
The Renegades looked in control at the halfway stage at 1-74 after taking 16 runs off the 10th over.
But they lost three wickets in the Power Surge, which they took immediately after the mid-innings break.
Four Stars passed 20, but Hilton Cartwright (38 off 30 balls) was the only one to pass 30.
Finch’s old housemate, Victorian and Australian colleague Maxwell, briefly threatened to be a party pooper as he blasted his way to 20 off 10 balls.
He took 16 off three successive balls in Tom Rogers’ second over, but was out the next over.
Speaking to Fox through his on-field microphone during the game, a frank Maxwell lamented his side’s “abysmal fielding” and his attack bowling “too many freebies.”
Quicks Tom Rogers and Kane Richardson (2-17 off four overs) each picked up a wicket with their first delivery, after Renegades raced to 0-21 off the first two overs.
West Indian spinner Akeal Hosein (2-18 off 4 ) playing in the first of just two BBL games for the Renegades, extracted significant turn from a receptive pitch.
Suffocating bowling from the Perth Scorchers has delivered them a brilliant Big Bash League win against the table-topping Brisbane Heat.
Held to a below-par 6-163 and with the Heat cruising at 1-67, the reigning champions looked destined to slump to a third loss in four games.
But pinpoint bowling from Lance Morris (3-26) and AJ Tye (4-14) turned the game on its head and fired the Scorchers to a comfortable 35-run win.
It avenges their loss to the Heat just three days ago and moves them into second on the table, keeping them in with a chance of a home final.
They face the third-placed Sydney Sixers on Tuesday night with the winner to seal second, and keep a chance of hosting the grand final should they win their opening playoff contest.
Sitting pretty at 1-67, the Heat lost 3-17 off 26 balls to allow the Scorchers back into the game.
Brisbane’s Nathan McSweeney (three) was caught behind off Tye before a stunning leg-side take from keeper Josh Inglis to dismiss Matthew Renshaw (one) heaped the pressure on at 3-82.
Two runs later, Jimmy Peirson (42) chipped Ashton Agar to point to cap the turnaround.
Max Bryant (29 off 17 balls) slogged some late runs but it was far too little for the Heat.
Tye cleaned up the tail with three wickets in the game’s last five balls to secure victory.
Aaron Hardie (1-22) and Jason Behrendorff (1-23) were also important in tightening the screw for Perth.
The Scorchers’ Laurie Evans heaped praise on the bowlers’ fightback.
“(The bowling) just flipped the game our way … we’ve always prided ourselves on having good power-surges whether with the bat or the ball,” he told Fox Cricket.
“It’s a lot easier to hit the ball here, rather than bat properly … I find hitting sixes a lot easier … today I tried to bat normally and I couldn’t get going.
“We’ve got a great rivalry against the Sixers, the two best teams in the history of this competition over the years, so it’ll be nice to welcome them over here.”
Alongside his side’s bowling brilliance, Perth No.7 Nick Hobson played a key role in the win, crunching an unbeaten 48 off 30 balls to help his side post a respectable total.
Star duo Hardie (nine) and Inglis (five) failed as the Scorchers slumped to 4-49, but Cooper Connolly (35) and Evans (26) aided the recovery before Hobson’s late rally.
Heat bowler Michael Neser took 2-21, along with an outrageous diving catch while chasing the ball over his head, to get rid of Connolly.
© AAP
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