Perth Scorchers 4 for 178 (Livingstone 59, Inglis 51, Gleeson 3-35) beat Melbourne Renegades 5 for 175 (Harper 73, Webster 59*, Jhye Richardson 3-22, M Marsh 2-10) by six wickets
A pair of half-centuries from Sam Harper and Beau Webster were neutralised by twin fifties from Josh Inglis and Liam Livingstone as the Perth Scorchers ensured the Melbourne Renegades continued to have a bagel in the win column, registering a six-wicket triumph at Geelong. Livingstone's 59 off 39 dominated a century stand with Inglis to put the Scorchers on course for victory with an over to spare. The result drew them back even with the Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat on the table with six points, though the latter two have a match in hand.
The battle of the Richardsons
Jhye Richardson's performance with the new ball went a long way towards laying the foundation for the Scorchers victory. He struck on the third ball of the match, bouncing out the Renegades captain Aaron Finch who pulled to deep square leg for a golden duck. He followed it up with a wicket maiden in the third, building up dot-ball pressure on Marcus Harris that resulted in an ill-advised flick across the line to send a leading edge to Chris Jordan at mid-off. Coming back at the death, he managed to strike once more, getting Dan Christian to slice an attempted wide yorker out to Livingstone at sweeper cover.
Kane Richardson did his best to match his namesake taking the new ball in reply for the Renegades, but he struggled to achieve the same results. Three overs after Livingstone had driven Richard Gleeson hard to Finch at extra cover, Kane flummoxed Inglis with a slower ball for a gentle return catch. But it was the only blow he would strike on the night, ending with expensive figures of 1 for 31 in comparison to Jhye's 3 for 22.
The battle of the Marsh brothers
Little brother Mitchell won this emphatically on the night, which also went a long way towards the Scorchers victory. In the first innings, Shaun managed just two off seven balls before pulling Mitchell's medium-pace to Livingstone at deep midwicket. Building off of Jhye's early double-strike, the Renegades were tied down to 3 for 48 in seven overs. It took a concerted effort from Harper and Webster to rebuild the innings with a 71-run stand. But Mitchell intervened to stunt momentum late in the innings by breaking the stand in the 16th over when he had Harper slapping a wider delivery out to Ashton Agar on the sweeper cover rope for 73 off 46.
Following the century stand by Livingstone and Inglis to open the chase, Mitchell came in at No. 3 and produced a pair of nuggety stands to keep the scoreboard ticking. He added 26 for the second wicket with Inglis, then another 18 with Cameron Bancroft for the third wicket to bring the Scorchers closer to the target during his 21 off 17 balls. Mitchell eventually fell in near identical fashion to how he dismissed Harper, slapping Gleeson out to sweeper cover.
Bancroft and Tim David took the Scorchers within one shot of victory during a 24-run stand. Singapore international David slaughtered a pair of sixes over midwicket and tried to end the match attempting a third but was caught on the boundary to give Gleeson a third wicket. Bancroft ended the match a few balls later, driving Gleeson to the extra-cover boundary to finish unbeaten on 24.
