Renegades take Melbourne derby thriller as Stars bottle chase

Melbourne Renegades conjured a rousing comeback victory to seriously dent crosstown rival Melbourne Stars' already slim finals chances in a tense contest at a roofed Marvel Stadium.

Chasing 163, Stars were cruising after an 88-run opening partnership between Joe Clarke and Tom Rogers. They still appeared well in the box seat needing 21 runs off 25 balls with seven wickets in hand before crumbling under pressure.

With Stars requiring 12 runs off the final over, seamer Will Sutherland held his nerve and ran out Luke Wood on the fourth delivery. But Nick Larkin then hit a boundary and needed a six off the last delivery to force a super over.

A composed Sutherland landed a wide yorker as Renegades again claimed the bragging rights in the Melbourne Derby after prevailing in a controversial contest at the MCG on January 3.

Renegades seamer Kane Richardson finished with 2 for 17 in his 100th BBL game, as bottom-placed Stars' finals chances have virtually been extinguished.

Fawad turns back the clock in Renegades return

Veteran spinner Fawad Ahmed's last appearance with Renegades was eight years ago, but the 40-year-old returned as an injury replacement for experienced batter Shaun Marsh.

He came into the attack in the sixth over, but was hit for six by Rogers. As he so often has done over his career, Fawad fought back and dismissed Rogers after Sutherland claimed a superb juggling catch around the boundary rope.

With Stars starting to wobble, Fawad bowled a maiden in the 13th over and then came back in a pivotal 17th over where he conceded just four runs to ensure a tight finish. Fawad finished with 1 for 20 from his four overs but left the field in the dying overs with an apparent knee injury. Renegades will hope it is not serious after Fawad proved he has something left in the tank.

Stars fail to cash in on good fortune

Marvel Stadium's roof was closed after oppressive weather in Melbourne with temperatures hitting 37 degrees Celsius when the match started.

Off to a flier, Clarke received fortune when he hit the roof off a delivery from Sutherland to end the third over. Under the BBL's playing conditions, a ball hitting the roof is deemed a six having once been a dead ball under old rules.

Had there been no roof, Clarke probably would have provided a catching opportunity and he cashed in to plunder Renegades' attack with a blistering half-century. Stars had more good fortune in the 16th over when Beau Webster hit a delivery straight up in the air before hitting the roof. But he couldn't capitalise and holed out shortly later as Stars spiralled much like their infamous defeat against Renegades in the BBL grand final in 2019.

The heartbreaking defeat has almost surely ended their finals chances in what has been another disappointing season for Stars.

Finch might need to move up the order

Aaron Finch has batted almost exclusively at No. 4 this season much like the role he had slotted into for Australia. He had batted quite well with a couple of half-centuries before going off the boil with three straight single digits heading into this match.

Coming to the crease in the sixth over, Finch started aggressively in contrast to his fairly sedate batting this season, where he has been intent on being the glue of the innings. He smashed three boundaries in his first five deliveries capped by smacking legspinner Adam Zampa down the ground. But on the next delivery he was deceived by a slower delivery to hole out to long-on.

Finch might need to return to opening, where he has had so much success during his long career. Renegades' batting has been a mishmash this season and held together at the moment by Sam Harper, who smashed his third straight half-century in a purple patch. A late flurry from Jonathan Wells, who hit 44 off 24 balls, powered Renegades to a competitive total that looked beyond them.

Quieter derby for Zampa

During the last Melbourne Derby, chaos ensued when Stars skipper Zampa attempted to run out Renegades batter Tom Rogers at the non-striker's end.

Zampa was jeered by some of the 38,5000 fans at the MCG and the incident sparked global debate. It was a low-key outing this time around for Zampa, who led a shorthanded Stars attack without quick Nathan Coulter-Nile and allrounder Marcus Stoinis.

He juggled his bowlers around with young seamer Brody Couch snaring the wickets of Martin Guptill and Rogers although he was expensive in his season debut. After missing out on Australia's upcoming Test tour of India, Zampa had a point to prove and he claimed the key wicket of counterpart Finch through trademark guile.