The Cane Train’s title defence is back on the tracks after a thumping seven-wicket victory over a disappointing and sometimes sloppy Melbourne Renegades in Geelong on Sunday night.
Hobart Hurricanes opener Nikhil Chaudhary (79 off 38 rocks), who was almost caught twice inside the first two overs, got the chase of 146 for victory off to a high octane start, bringing up his half ton off just 29 balls.
He would smash back-to-back sixes of Gurinder Sandhu, the second maximum plonked onto the Reg Hickey Stand roof at square leg.
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MATCH CENTRE: Renegades vs Hurricanes scorecard, teams, stats
With rain starting to fall, it was fitting Ben McDermott (49 off 33) brought up the winning runs with a spanking six over midwicket off Will Sutherland with 37 rocks to spare.
Earlier, the home side needed plenty to go right defending just 9-145 and they got the perfect start with Jason Behrendorff catching the edge of Mitch Owen first rock.
But it was one of few highlights for the Gades on the night which struggled to match their monster score of 5-212 on Monday night against the Brisbane Heat.
Captain Will Sutherland took a brilliant catch at cover running back with the flight to send Tim Ward packing for just eight to open the door slightly at 2-38.
And the introduction of white ball specialist Adam Zampa was always going to be telling following the fine tweaking from Rishad Hossain and Rehan Ahmed, but McDermott would put him deep into the Brownlow Stand for six.The Hurricanes were airborne by the time McDermott and Chaudhary began to click, putting on a rollicking 93-run stand for the third wicket.
Back-to-back sloppy fielding efforts from Fergus O’Neill and Sutherland off Hassan Khan, followed by a booming McDermott six over long on, summed up an off night for the Renegades.
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Possible English reinforcements
With the Poms down 3-0 in the Ashes, thoughts began to drift towards potential reinforcements for the Boxing Day Test.
And there were two Englishmen in the one BBL outfit to consider who had terrific nights at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday night: paceman Chris Jordan and spinner Rehan Ahmed.
Jordan started in sensational style with the new rock bowling a maiden to the out-of-sorts Josh Brown.
“That is rare as they come,” SEN’s John Donohoe said.
He would return in the ninth over to clean bowl Seifert for 34 off his ninth scoreless delivery in succession.
“He’s been brilliant,” SEN’s commentator and former Test spinner Bryce McGain added.
He then trapped Khan and Sutherland leg before in his third to have 3-7 after three, then 4-8 when he castled Fergus O’Neill in his fourth.
Meanwhile, Ahmed, who made his Test debut in Pakistan in 2022, clean bowled Rizwan for 32 during a crafty and economical spell.
The Mitchell Starc of the BBL
Defending a small total of 9-145, the Renegades struck early in the opening over for the second game in a row at Kardinia Park.
And both wickets came from the left-arm of Jason Behrendorff who claimed the prized scalp of Mitch Owen caught behind by Muhammad Rizwan for a golden duck.
It repeated his effort against the Heat six days prior when he removed Jack Wildermuth in his opening over for a second-ball globe, also caught behind by Rizwan.
The only difference was the Hurricanes took 15 off the over in a blistering start to the run chase which didn’t abate.
Rain again threatens the BBL in Geelong
The weather gods have not been kind to BBL games in Geelong of late.
Just over two years ago the match between the Renegades and the Perth Scorchers was abandoned after just 6.5 overs.
Rain had got onto the pitch under the covers following torrential weather that weekend and the wicket was deemed unfit for further play.
On Sunday, Geelong was lashed for several hours, with up to 30mm predicted, which triggered thoughts of a delayed start or an abandoned match.
However, despite a late light sprinkling, the game got started on time but it may have impacted on attendance which appeared a bit thinner than Monday night’s 10,043 in the house.
Rockin’ Rizwan
After a quiet BBL debut last Monday night at GMHBA Stadium, the Pakistani T20 superstar provided a brief snapshot of what to expect this season.
Arriving at the crease with the Renegades off to a horror start of 1-1 off 10 balls, Rizwan got his innings going with a swipe off Nathan Ellis to the leg side boundary early – the Gades’ first in the third over.
Along with Monday night’s centurion Tim Seifert, the pair took 34 from back-to-back overs from Ellis and Riley Meredith with a mixture of hoiks, glides and ambitious ramps, and 62 all up in less than seven overs.
But the runs would dry up after that with Rizwan finishing with 32 off 26 balls with five boundaries after being skittled by Ahmed.
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