Stars won the return Melbourne derby at the Renegades’ home ground as Tom Rogers smashed the equal second-fastest half-century in club history
Tom Rogers smashed the equal second-fastest half-century in Stars history as his team reignited their push for a maiden BBL title with a commanding eight-wicket Melbourne derby win over the Renegades.
In-form Renegades blaster Josh Brown laid the platform for the hosts’ 7-166 at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night with 80 off 50 balls.
But Rogers and fellow opener Sam Harper both fired to help the Stars reach 2-170 with 25 deliveries to spare.
In doing so, the Stars turned the tables on their rivals after losing the first derby of the season six days earlier.
Rogers set the pace in the run chase, bringing up his half-century off 19 balls before he was run out for 53 off 24, smashing four fours and four sixes.
His quickfire fifty wasn’t far off Nicholas Pooran’s Stars record (17 balls), but it didn’t go close to threatening the all-time BBL mark, set by the Renegades’ Chris Gayle (12 balls) in 2016.
Harper stuck around longer than his opening partner, posting an unbeaten 84 off 51 to continue his best BBL campaign so far with the bat.
The diminutive wicketkeeper-batter produced the highlight of the night when he smacked Jason Behrendorff into the top deck of the stands.
It was one of Harper’s four sixes, while he also hit eight fours and reclaimed his spot on top of the competition’s run-scoring list this season.
After losing their previous three outings, the Stars (5-3) are back on track for a finals appearance, while the Renegades (3-4) sit among the tight pack fighting for a spot.
Earlier, Brown continued his strong form by posting back-to-back derby half-centuries, after his player-of-the-match performance in the MCG clash six days earlier.
The powerful right-hander hit seven fours and four sixes, taking his season tally of maximums to a league-best 17, including launching Mitchell Swepson into the second tier of seats.
Jake Fraser-McGurk (17 off 14) became the latest player to hit the Docklands roof, resulting in a dead ball, while Mohammad Rizwan’s stay at the crease was an eventful one.
The Pakistani batter was hit in the box by Peter Siddle and dropped by Glenn Maxwell on the boundary, but failed to make the Stars pay.
Rizwan (21 off 20) and Caleb Jewell fell in successive balls to Marcus Stoinis, who was denied a hat-trick by Hassan Khan.
Stoinis took 3-33 from four overs as the pick of the Stars’ attack, with support from Haris Rauf (2-31).
Teams chasing targets have now won 11 of the past 12 matches at Marvel Stadium.
KFC BBL|15 standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Total points
PTS
1
HUR
8
6
2
0
0
0.398
0
12
2
STA
8
5
3
0
0
0.909
0
10
3
SCO
7
4
3
0
0
1.094
0
8
4
SIX
7
4
3
0
0
0.458
0
8
5
HEA
8
4
4
0
0
-0.446
0
8
6
STR
7
3
4
0
0
-0.258
0
6
7
REN
7
3
4
0
0
-0.713
0
6
8
THU
8
1
7
0
0
-1.348
0
2
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
