Two teams that looked to be a mismatch played each other some days ago, and the unfashionable Renegades got home thanks to Christian and Nabi over the reigning champion Strikers. It just seemed so unlikely, so much so that when they met again this evening it still seemed like a dream, and that the Strikers had all the firepower to make this game a forgone conclusion. The end result validated that feeling, which made the result in their first clash this season even more difficult to believe.
It was a massive error to win the toss and not bat first. Like the pitch at Spotless Stadium last night, this was low and slow and always looked as though any total of 140 plus was going to be difficult to run down. But the obsession with teams wanting to chase totals continued, and with the average batting line up that the Renegades currently possess it just wasn’t smart cricket.
However, they certainly shouldn’t have been chasing as many as they did. After a great start to take 60 runs off the first seven overs by the Strikers, they kept finding ways to get themselves out. The two run outs for the Strikers were not only a waste and harmful to the run rate that had been occurring, but both showed the importance of checking just how you are holding your bat in the diving process. Both Short and especially Weatherald had to dive to make the crease, and both had their bat beyond the crease line, but in the process of the slide the bat had bounced in the air. Weatherald especially had the back of his bat on the ground, which left the end of the bat beyond the ‘hills’ section above the line. Weatherald had been the star of the first innings, scoring 71 from 44 balls and his dismissal along with Ingram robbed the innings of its momentum. At 6/127 with two overs remaining it looked as though 140 was as many as they were going to get, but again Rashid Khan came in and played a gem with 21 not out off seven deliveries, and with Jono Wells 22 not out got the total up to 6/158 with 31 from those final two overs. It was a massive game changer.
The Renegades reply was stagnant from the start, with the batsmen unable to get the ball away from the good length bowling and the unresponsive wicket. The initial foray of Stanlake and Neser both picked up an early wicket, and from that point the spinners took control on the sluggish surface. Liam O’Connor (2/21) and Colin Ingram (1/20) both benefitted from the average batting picking up wickets and being able to bowl many more overs than they should have been allowed to, which put the late order under enormous pressure to score runs and score them quickly. Rashid Khan (1/18) then tied them in knots to ensure the result of the game long before its conclusion, and was a bit stiff not to have at least two more wickets. The Strikers didn’t get out of second gear through the whole innings as the Renegades just fell apart, allowing skipper Ingram to not even bowl most of his front liners to completion.
While there is still so long to go in this BBL season, the Renegades are in real danger of slipping out of the contest. They will have Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris back to strengthen the batting for a time, something they desperately need as the current line up is just not up to this standard. For the Strikers, they continue their charge after a couple of hiccups and still look likely to be one of the teams to beat when the finals come around, especially as they are likely to be able to keep their team intact for most of the rest of the BBL.
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