BBL 2016/17: Top moments from the Melbourne Renegades vs Brisbane Heat thriller
Renegades won an epic match which went to the final over of the innings
In the most dramatic fashion, Melbourne Renegade stayed alive for the business end of the tournament after snatching victory by the narrowest of margins against Brisbane Heat. With their semi-final spot on the line, the Renegades held their nerve in the dying moments of the thriller to win by a mere one-run.
Earlier, Melbourne rode on captain Finch’s belligerent 71-run knock to post a stiff target of 200, after being sent into bat. Brendon McCullum, his counterpart, started off in similar fashion, but in a bizarre sequence of events in the final few overs, Heat eventually just fell short of the target.
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Brief Scores: Melbourne Renegades – 199/5 (Aaron Finch 71 (35), Marcus Harris 48 (32), Callum Ferguson 31 (15); Mark Steketee 2/37 (4))
Brisbane Heat – 198 all out in 19.5 overs (Brendon McCullum 64 (40), Ben Cutting 35 (18), Joe Burns 35 (22); Thisara Perera 2/27 (4), Sunil Narine 2/38 (4), Nathan Rimmington 2/37 (2.5));
#5 Finch runs amok on the bowlers
Finch gave a fitting reply to his axing from the Australian limited overs squads.
Having won the toss and opted to send the Renegades in, Brisbane Heat were immediately made to regret their decision as Renegades captain Finch ran amok on their bowlers. Going at a strike rate just over 200, the Aussie opener scored a boundary-studded 71 off 35 balls – his third score over 50 in four innings.
Together with fellow opener Marcus Harris, who scored 48 himself, Finch stitched together a 106-run opening partnership in little more than 9 overs. Finch struck six fours in his innings and also cleared the ropes with four sixes, three of them off consecutive balls.
The peak of his knock was when he struck these three sixes in the eighth over of the innings, bowled by leggie Marnus Labuschagne. He was dismissed on 71 by Mark Steketee, who slipped a well-disguised slower delivery on good length and got Finch caught at the mid-wicket boundary.