The Melbourne Renegades have restricted the Sydney Sixers to just 8-149 after sending the hosts into bat at the SCG in Wednesday night’s big Bash clash.
Despite dropping four catches, the Renegades made the Sixers’ struggling batting line-up pay with some impressive bowling.
Josh Philippe played a lone hand for the Sixers with a nice 55 off 40 to set the Sixers up for what looked like a strong total. But his dismissal in the 12th over (2-91) sparked a torrid collapse for the Sydney side, who would lose 7-32 in a dismal second half of their innings.
Mic-ed up ‘Gades skipper Nic Maddinson told Fox Cricket “From the start, I thought if we could keep them to 160 we thought that’d be a good score.”
The Renegades can claim top spot on the ladder after five games with a win.
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FIRST INNINGS
The Sixers made 0-29 from the first four overs, before opener Kurtis Patterson (17 off 16) was caught by Kane Richardson, slashing at a Mujeeb ur Rahman ball to make it 1-32.
Josh Philippe - dropped by gloveman Peter Handscomb in the sixth over - smashed two sixes off Mujeeb in the seventh over, with both caught well by fans in the stands.
But the Renegades needed catching lessons from the fans, with James Vince dropped on just eight runs by Mujeeb after he skied a top edge wildly. That came after fielder Jono Wells just missed a tough chance to catch Philippe in the deep.
At the halfway mark, the Sixers were 1-80 with Philippe on 47 and Vince 15. But Philippe (55 off 40) waylaid a poor ramp shot straight to Hosein at short fine leg in the 12th over, leaving the Sixers 2-91.
Just three balls later, Sixers captain Moises Henriques (1) was run out after a mix-up with Vince, who unfortunately kicked the ball accidentally in the direction of bowler Tom Rogers.
Rogers turned and pegged the ball at the stumps, instead of just passing it to the waiting fielder, but Shaun Marsh pulled off a brilliant piece of fielding to catch the bouncing ball and remove the bails.
But the Renegades’ horror catching hit them again soon after, when Vince - on four runs - was dropped by captain Maddinson.
Vince worked his way to 26 runs before falling to a slower ball from Will Sutherland, whose leg cutter clipped middle stump to leave the Sixers 4-111 in the 15th over.
After the drinks break, the Sixers lost 3-32 in the next five overs. And the drama continued when Dan Christian was caught behind (7) off Richardson in the 17th over, after the Sixers took the power surge.
The following over, Silk (19) was stuck for three straight dot balls by some great bowling from Mujeeb before being caught by Aaron Finch after a thick outside edge. Two balls later, Hayden Kerr (1) chipped it straight to Martin Guptill at long on - meaning Mujeeb picked up two wickets for just one run in a remakable power surge over.
The Sixers were left at 7-130, having lost 6 wickets for 39 runs.
Sean Abbott lofted a ball skywards to Maddinson, caught for just one off Richardson’s bowling.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman finished with 3-29 off his four overs, while Richardson had 2-22 from his four - the same figures as Test bolter Will Sutherland.
PREVIEW
The Renegades won their first three matches before falling eight runs short of the Hurricanes’ miserly total last time out, but a return to winning ways would see them rise to the top of the Big Bash ladder.
But the Sixers have rebounded from a slow start to find form, winning their last two matches after two emphatic defeats to open the season. Both of their wins have come on home soil.
Nic Maddinson and Aaron Finch have shown plenty of danger with the bat for the Renegades, with Maddinson’s top score of 87 the second-highest of any player this season, while Finch has bagged an unbeaten 70 of his own. Maddinson has 128 runs from his four knocks so far, while Finch has 118 at a hugely impressive average of 59.00. But they’re without Andre Russell, who had one half-century from his four innings before leaving the BBL.
The Sixers’ batting has proven a significant weakness, racking up just 538 runs in total – the fewest of any team – while Renegades star Akeal Hosein already has 10 wickets, the second-most in the competition.
And on the bowling side, three Sixers rank in the bottom five in the competition for bowling economy – all above 9.
It paints a stark picture of just how much the Sydney side has to improve on both sides if they are to make a deep run in the competition.
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MATCH CENTRE:Teams, stats, and moreHurricanes defend 2nd lowest total | 01:33
TEAM NEWS
The Renegades made four changes from their last match, including the introduction of two debutants in Kiwi Martin Guptill and Peter Handscomb. Shaun Marsh and Kane Richardson, also came in with Sam Harper, Jake Fraser-McGurk and David Moody out and Andre Russell having finished his BBL stint.
For the Sixers, veteran spinner Steve O’Keefe was ruled out after a hamstring injury suffered in Monday night’s clash. Ben Dwarshuis and Todd Murphy come in for Izharulhaq Naveed and the injured O’Keefe.
Sixers: Philippe (wk), Patterson, Vince, Henriques (c), Silk, Christian, Kerr, Abbott, Dwarshuis, Bird, Murphy
Renegades: Maddinson (c), Guptill, Marsh, Finch, Wells, Handscomb (wk), Hosein, Sutherland, Rogers, Richardson, Ur Rahman
LIVE BLOG
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