T20 cricket is a fickle beast, one that seems to drive the public’s imagination because of its fast pace and constant boundary hitting with high scores, and then those scores being chased down in dramatic style. What often gets forgotten is that there are just as many games that are as hard fought and contested, but are low scoring affairs where few boundaries are hit and the games are won in boring style by easy singles as the required run rate drops well below a run a ball. For those at the game they are mind numbingly hollow matches. On TV at least you can appreciate the cricket that is being played if you can negotiate your way through the sometimes inane commentary, but it’s not what the casual fan is looking for. Such was this evening’s match between the Renegades and the Scorchers.
There’s only so many times you can be reminded in a lead up to a match or during the actual match that one team has never beaten the other team before you know the tide is going to turn. When it’s rammed down your throat by the commentary team it becomes even more probable. The Renegades had never beaten the Scorchers before last night, and yet the Scorchers had also lost their first match of the BBL season in six of the eight years it has been played, so one of those records was going to improve slightly on the night. Both teams were skinny in batting, with the Scorchers missing Shaun Marsh and Cam Bancroft, while the Renegades were without Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris. In retrospect, did the low scoring match come from this loss of personnel?
The Renegades pace bowling of Usman Shinwari and Kane Richardson was excellent, both picking up early wickets to put their opponents under pressure. I don’t see what is so special about David Willey, he appears completely overrated. Tonight he contributed 12 runs at number three and 0/10 from one over. Mitch Marsh again underwhelmed as well with just three runs and then not even bowling himself. If this is the Scorchers numbers three and four this season they are in for a world of hurt. Once Michael Klinger was dismissed there was little direction left in the batting. It was Dan Christian who changed the match, picking up Klinger with his first delivery, and then disposing of Turner and Agar in his second over to break the back of the Scorchers middle order. As with the previous night’s match, early wickets flailing at the ball cost the team any chance of getting a defendable score. It’s easy to say in hindsight but a more composed start to build to a crescendo at the end may have been worth a try. But everyone wants explosions and sixes and a total of 200 rather than solid stroke play to a total of 160.
Still, at 4/17 in the chase of 104 for victory the Renegades looked to have the wobbles as Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Coulter-Nile took two wickets apiece. However they couldn’t bowl forever, and from the first overs from Andrew Tye and David Willey the pair of Sam Harper and Mohammed Nabi took 25 runs, restoring the balance of the match and never really looking back from that point, winning with almost five overs to spare and four wickets in hand.
What Fox Cricket viewers will have learned from the night is that it is going to be a long season when Shane Warne is on the microphone. When he talks about the game he can be respected, but his incessant need to talk just drowns out what is happening on the field and negates any input from anyone else on the panel. If Fox can organise a transfer of Warne for Ricky Ponting from the Channel 7 team, we would have a much less annoyed summer ahead.
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