Rogers and Harper dismantle Renegades to get Stars back on track

A stunning batting assault from Sam Harper and Tom Rogers has helped Melbourne Stars arrest a three-game losing streak with an emphatic eight-wicket win over a listless Melbourne Renegades, cruising to a chase of 167 with 25 balls to spare.

In front of a huge crowd of 42,846 at Marvel Stadium, Harper continued his outstanding season as the BBL's leading run scorer, thumping 80 not out from 50 balls while Rogers made his highest BBL score of 53 after posting the second-fastest fifty in Stars history off just 19 balls.

The batting display backed up a disciplined bowling performance from Stars, which papered over a sloppy fielding display. Skipper Marcus Stoinis took 3 for 33 while Haris Rauf and Peter Siddle were frugal throughout to keep Renegades to just 166 for 7. Josh Brown's lone hand of 80 from 50 deserved greater support but the rest of Renegades top order really struggled for fluency.

Rogers made a mockery of Renegades' new-ball batting. Where the hosts had struggled for timing throughout their innings, Rogers barely missed the middle of the bat.

The first of his four sixes came in the opening over of the chase when he flicked a rare loose leg-side offering from Jason Behrendorff over fine leg. Shot of the match came in the fourth over when he pinged a jaw-dropping straight drive to the rope, like a bullet over the lush slow outfield. He thumped the next length ball from Gurinder Sandhu 99 metres into the upper deck at midwicket.

There was no mercy for Brendon Doggett on Renegades debut. His predictable Test lengths, having spent two months honing them with Australia's Ashes squad, were hammered twice into the stands by Rogers and once later by Harper.

Rogers raced to his highest BBL score and the opening stand reached 83 from 7.2 overs. Renegades got lucky to break it. Harper made the right call to try and pinch two to Jake Fraser-McGurk in the deep but Rogers was a little sluggish and the throw to the non-striker's beat him by a centimetre.

The door was briefly ajar for Renegades to fight back when Campbell Kellaway holed out to deep-backward square off Hassan Khan four balls later.

But Harper shut it will some old-school batting alongside Glenn Maxwell. He thumped the ball along the deck to the sweepers and ran brilliantly to reach 50 off 35 balls. Maxwell was less assured. He was dropped by Caleb Jewell at backward point after miscuing a switch hit.

Harper's Power Surge assault allowed Maxwell to cruise to an unbeaten 20. Harper thumped 24 off the Surge on his own featuring an army roll scoop for four and a brilliant loft over cover for six.

Brown's innings was in vain after he made the perfect start, thumping ten off Maxwell's opening over, including a huge strike against the angle over mid-off.

He had some luck, slicing an edge past the keeper and then, on 29, he lofted Mitchell Swepson flat towards long-off but Campbell Kellaway misjudged it and came in too far off the rope only to have it clear him and land inside the rope for four.

It was the first of a slew of sloppy fielding errors from Stars. Brown reaped another boundary on 45 when he sliced a drive straight through Stoinis on the circle at cover-point.

Shortly after Maxwell dropped Mohammed Rizwan at deep midwicket on 12 to audible gasps from the huge crowd. It was almost too straight forward by Maxwell's standards with the rope not a factor as he ran well inside it to spill at waist-high offering without needing to dive or stretch.

But despite Stars' attempts to give Renegades the upper hand, Renegades returned the favour with some indifferent batting. Rizwan made a 20-ball 21 before hitting another catch in the deep. That followed Fraser-McGurk's 14-ball 17 where he had several miscues land safe and one top edge hit the closed Marvel Stadium roof to be called a dead ball when keeper Harper was certain to settle underneath.

Caleb Jewell, playing his first game for his new club, having spent the first six games running the drinks after being a key part of Hobart Hurricanes' title last year, chipped his first ball to midwicket.

Brown got brief help from Hassan Khan in a partnership of 44, but Brown's seven fours and four sixes doubled that of his teammates' combined efforts of three fours and two sixes.

When Brown fell in the 18th, trapped lbw by a clever Peter Siddle slower ball, Renegades' hopes of posting anything north of 170 fell with him.

Stars climb back up to second on the table while Renegades remain anchored in seventh spot.