BBL 15: Melbourne Renegades trump Brisbane Heat in a cliffhanger
It was a topsy-turvy game at the Gabba, as Aaron Finch and Cameron White shared a 111-run stand, before Dwayne Bravo’s consecutive sixes sealed the deal for the Melbourne Renegades as they beat the Brisbane Heat by seven wickets in game 3 of the Big Bash League 2015.
The Renegades were cruising to victory till the 16th over, with both Finch and White well set, but back-to-back strikes from Andrew Fekete put them in a spot of bother, only for Bravo to pull out a masterclass, thereby finishing the game with three balls to spare.
Heat, helped along by short but effective cameos by Chris Lynn, Ben Cutting, Lendl Simmons and Nathan Reardon put up a competitive total of 180/5 on the board. Reardon, along with James Hopes, in the latter part of their innings scored at a strike-rate of over 200 as they smashed seven boundaries and a six between them.
They didn’t have an impressive start though as they lost Jimmy Peirson early for a score of 10, but Simmons along with Joe Burns upped the ante as they scored 47 runs off the next 5 overs before Xavier Doherty got the better of Simmons for 29.
Lynn carried on from there, but Doherty struck back again, dismissing Burns this time, reducing Heat to 63/3. Reardon then came out to accompany Lynn and they shared a comprehensive 52-run partnership in the next five overs.
Although both of the departed in quick succession courtesy of Dwayne Bravo and Nathan Rimmington, Hopes and Cutting gave the finishing touch to the innings thereby putting up a tough chase for the Renegades of 181 runs.
The Gayle-force did work for the Renegades as he and the captain Aaron Finch stitched up 38 runs in the first four overs before his West Indian team-mate Simmons took an excellent catch diving forward to send him back. Gayle had already smashed two fours and as many sixes in his knock of 23.
Finch and Cameron White then led the Redbacks’ chase with controlled yet aggressive batting at the top, especially by Finch who punished the relatively inexperienced Heat bowling attack to all parts as he brought up his 50 off just 33 balls.
White stepped on the pedal thereafter as the two brought up the 100-run stand in the 16th over. He brought up his 50 too on the first ball of the 17th over, with a magnificent straight strike over the bowler’s head for six.
Just when the Renegades had started smelling victory, as they needed 32 from 20, Finch top-edged a short Fekete delivery that was caught cleanly in the deep, giving his side a minor hiccup.
White was then dismissed the very next delivery, in a similar fashion – caught in the deep – and suddenly the Heat were back in the game. Heat could have had three in three when Bravo launched his first ball into the deep which fell short of the two converging fielders.
If the Heat were back in business with two wickets, Bravo made it even with two consecutive sixes off Steketee, in an over full of drama, wherein the Caribbean also survived a close run-out chance.
By the end of the 19th over, that also included two wides, Renegades needed just 5 runs from the last over which Matthew Wade easily finished off with two boundaries.
Bravo was unbeaten on 22 off 9 while Samuel Badree returned with economical yet wicket-less figures of 0/20 (4) for the Heat.
Scorecard: Brisbane Heat won the toss and chose to bat.
Brisbane Heat: 180/5, Overs 20.0
| J Peirson | 10 (11) |
| L Simmons | 29 (25) |
| J Burns | 16 (16) |
| C Lynn | 35 (20) |
| N Reardon | 28 (22) |
| B Cutting | 30* (14) |
| J Hopes | 24* (12) |
| Total | 180/5 |
Bowling:
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| C Tremain | 4 | 32 | 1 |
| N Rimmington | 4 | 33 | 1 |
| G Walker | 3 | 37 | 0 |
| D Bravo | 4 | 30 | 1 |
| X Doherty | 4 | 29 | 2 |
| C Gayle | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Melbourne Renegades: 184/3, Overs 19.3
| A Finch | 65 (45) |
| C Gayle | 23 (16) |
| C White | 55 (41) |
| M Wade | 11 (6) |
| D Bravo | 22 (9) |
| Total | 184/3 |
Bowling:
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| J Lalor | 2 | 18 | 0 |
| M Steketee | 4 | 40 | 1 |
| A Fekete | 4 | 44 | 2 |
| B Cutting | 3 | 31 | 0 |
| S Badree | 4 | 20 | 0 |
| J Hopes | 2.3 | 27 | 0 |
Melbourne Renegades beat Brisbane Heat by 7 wickets.
Man of the Match: Aaron Finch