Melbourne Renegades snatched their
first ever Big Bash League title from the Melbourne stars by forcing an
extraordinary collapse from their crosstown rivals, after Ben Dunk and Marcus
Stoinis had appeared to have taken their side to the outskirts of victory.
Needing 53 from 43 balls with all
10 wickets in hand, the Stars lost a shuddering 7 for 39 from those remaining
deliveries, turning a momentarily moribund spectacle into that familiar but
always entertaining scenario, the rush of late wickets in the face of a
mounting required run rate. Having previously monstered a pair of chases
against the Renegades, the Stars fell in a heap, unable to be pulled out of
their dive by the captain Glenn Maxwell.
Credit was due to the doughty
bowling of Cameron Boyce, Harry Gurney, Chris
Tremain, and Daniel Christian, as they aptly exploited the vagaries
of a slow surface to prevent the Stars from scoring any boundaries between the
end of the 12th over and midway through the last. Christian and Tom Cooper had
earlier shrugged off the loss of early wickets after the Renegades were sent in
to bat by Maxwell, forging a vital stand to mount a defendable total in the
face of excellent work by the Stars spin bowlers in particular.
Given
two qualifying matches that both followed remarkably similar scripts - Stars
bowling first, Renegades being restricted, Stars powering to a successful chase
- it was not surprising to see the visiting captain Maxwell choose to attempt a
similar path. He was to be well served by his bowlers seeking out well-defined
weaknesses in the Renegades' top order: Marcus Harris coaxed into a pull shot
he seldom controls, Sam Harper deprived of room to free his arms, and Cameron White
pinned on the crease by Zampa's skidding leg spin.
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