White, Hogg shine as Renegades claim derby
Sunil Narine enjoyed his newfound allrounder status while Brad Hogg played another useful hand to ensure the Melbourne Renegades beat the Melbourne Stars on New Year's Day at the MCG
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
There has been some debate as to how the Renegades would replace their key man and only allrounder, Dwayne Bravo, who was ruled out of the tournament after a hamstring injury in the match against the Scorchers. For now, the Renegades don't have another match until the second Melbourne derby on January 7 and so have plenty of time to find an overseas replacement. As a short-term fix against the Stars, they hauled in the burly bruiser Trent Lawford to provide some lower-order ballast and right-arm trickery, but they had another ace up their sleeve: an unlikely batting promotion for Narine.
To accommodate Narine at the top, Marcus Harris and White dropped a place each. The former struggled, but White - having been booed, as a former Star, on his way to the crease - shone. He ended up batting through with a composed 64. He ran hard - not least in the slog overs, in the company of Lawford - and was typically strong on the drive through the off side. He picked his targets, going after Scott Boland, and, after two quick wickets, shared a resourceful 72 with Tom Cooper, who also batted with brains over brawn.
Chris Tremain's first two overs, in the Powerplay, went for 11 each. After Aaron Finch tightened things up by getting spinners to take the pace off the ball, Tremain returned for the 14th over, with the game in the balance. Wright and Faulkner were both set, rain was coming down and more than 10 runs were required per over. Tremain proceeded to bowl an 11-ball over, with four wides, a no-ball (and thus free hit, which proved to be a dot-ball), but conceded only eight runs. Vitally, he took the key wicket of Faulkner, who bunted a rare legal delivery straight down Finch's throat at long-off.
This is why the Renegades signed Hogg. His first over began right after the rain delay and, with his third ball, he bowled David Hussey, who had been purring along. After two wicketless, but also boundary-less, overs, he completed his allocation immediately after Tremain's peculiar over. He built pressure on Wright, who had kept the Stars in the chase but struggled for fluency in his 45, then bowled him with a flatter, sharper ball. He finished his spell by trapping Sam Harper - who was not even born when Hogg made his international debut - plumb in front. Hogg's 3 for 22 put the outcome beyond doubt.
Will Macpherson writes on cricket for the Guardian, ESPNcricinfo and All Out Cricket. @willis_macp