Perth Scorchers 3 for 185 (Inglis 72*, Munro 52) beat Melbourne Renegades 89 (Prestwidge 33, Fawad 2-5) by 96 runs
Josh Inglis backed up a return to form from the previous Perth Scorchers outing with his first half-century of the season, as he and Colin Munro, who also made his first fifty of the BBL in a display that included five sixes, combined in a match-defining 117-run stand as the Melbourne Renegades' miserable tournament continued.
This was a contest between the bottom two teams in the league at the start of the day and it was the Scorchers who moved forward. In the first professional cricket match played in Perth this season because of border restrictions, they put in a supreme display much to the delight of a passionate home crowd, that has been starved of cricket action.
The Renegades had reshuffled their batting order - with Australia captain Aaron Finch surprisingly moving to No. 3 - but they put in an awful display, adding 89 all out to previous collapses this season for 60 and 80. Although because the Scorchers had earlier made just 63 in their first ten overs, the Renegades were able to take the Bash Boost point despite being 8 for 71.
Calm before the storm
It was a solid but unspectacular start from the Scorchers. They were 0 for 29 after the four-over powerplay and had 41 on the board when Liam Livingstone was stumped, charging at 16-year-old birthday boy Noor Ahmad, who comprehensively defeated him for length. The next three overs brought just 15 runs with Jason Roy held to an uncharacteristic strike rate of 84.38 before he picked out mid-off. At the ten-over mark, they were an underwhelming 2 for 63, but two balls into the 11th came a crucial moment when Inglis, on 10, was caught at third man but Peter Hatzoglou stepped on to the rope.
Going through the gears
The Scorchers called the Power Surge in the 13th over and, unlike a few recently, it had the desired effect as the two overs brought 26 runs and injected some much-needed momentum into the innings. That pace was continued, and lifted, as the three overs that followed went for 47. Inglis brought up a 30-ball fifty with a pulled six off Josh Lalor and Munro's came from a rapid 24 deliveries as the Renegades wilted under the pressure. Two poor pieces of fielding by Mohammad Nabi - a dropped catch off Inglis and a boundary let through his legs in the final over - summed things up for the visitors. When Mitchell Marsh signed off the innings with a huge leg-side six, 122 runs had come from the second ten overs.
Batting horror show, but a boost
Sam Harper, promoted to open the batting in place of Finch, dragged on the second ball from Jhye Richardson and things did not get any better. If any further signs were needed as to how things were going for the Renegades, it came when Finch was run-out backing up as a fierce straight drive from Shaun Marsh clipped Jason Behrendorff's fingers. The in-form Marsh then fell to a stunning catch at backward point by Roy, which wasn't far off matching MacKenzie Harvey's amazing effort a few days ago. When Fawad Ahmed produced a double-wicket maiden in the ninth over it appeared the Renegades might even mess up getting to Bash Boost, but a pulled six from Jack Prestwidge did the job in the tenth over. It was a little game-within-a-game, but it can be debated if it was earned.
