Melbourne Renegades eased to a dominant 48-run win over reigning champions Sydney Thunder to get their Big Bash League campaign off to a strong start on Thursday.
MORE: WATCH: Bloke misses chance to match Security Sam | WATCH: Bravo bowled in embarrassing dismissal |
After batting first and posting 7-179 at Etihad Stadium, the Renegades had the away team all out for 131, with opening batsman Kurtis Patterson out for a diamond duck and the last five players in the Thunder batting order supplying a pitiful eight runs between them.
Ryan Gibson (39), Pat Cummins (37) and captain Ben Rohrer (30) were the only visitors to make more than three runs, as 45-year-old former Perth Scorchers veteran Brad Hogg (2-22) starred on his Renegades debut and West Indies duo Dwayne Bravo (2-28) and Sunil Narine (2-38) did the damage with bat and ball.
Aaron Finch top scored for the Renegades with a 37-ball 63, his 10th BBL half-century. The Victorian found the boundary three times and went over the ropes with four maximums. Two of those arrived right at the end of his knock, the 30-year-old getting out attempting a hat-trick of sixes but succeeding only in holing out to sweeper cover off Fawad Ahmed (1-29).
Bravo was helped on his way to 24 by the clumsiness of West Indies colleague Andre Russell (2-42), who failed to effect a clean stop before kicking the ball over the ropes to gift his opponent a four.
But Russell made amends when he held a catch off the bowling of Cummins to remove Callum Ferguson, who had raced to 38 from just 32 balls.
In addition to the tail's collapse, Thunder's specialists also disappointed, Eoin Morgan and Russell making just two apiece.